Between Us
by mocasoul
Summary: A month after Emily was attacked, she finally decides to tell someone she wouldn't even dream of telling...Derek. That's right...It's a Demily. COMPLETED
1. Prologue

It was Halloween and Emily felt as if she wanted to die because she had the flu. Not only was she missing the school costume party, but she was lonely because her family were taking her little brother trick-or-treating. She couldn't ask Casey to stay with her because she knew how much she hated the risk of getting sick, but she was nice enough to send over her homemade chicken noodle soup. Plus, she wanted Casey to enjoy the party and possibly see Truman there. She didn't have a boyfriend to comfort her because Sheldon moved away, and she really missed him. He would definitely miss a party to be with her. And she wouldn't even dare to ask Derek to miss a party…or see her look like a slob. Although, she wasn't looking as bad as she did at first. In fact, she was wearing her cat costume. She was actually getting over her flu and felt fine enough to go out, but she rethought about getting everyone sick and decided to stay home. At least, she could take pictures of her cute costume to show Casey.

She was heating up some of the soup when she heard a knock at the door and grabbed the bowl of candy to hand to the little kids, but when she opened it, she was surprised.

"Mr. Carr?!" she said as she saw her cute French teacher standing in front of her.

"Trick or treat, Emily." he said as he held a folder full of papers. "I have some assignments you've missed since you were sick. It's from all of your classes and a student was supposed to deliver this, but I thought it would be a good way to work with you on my class work. I didn't want you to be too behind in my class."

"Great…homework." she said not bothering to hide her lack of enthusiasm.

"I know, but you do want to pass, don't you? May I come in?"

"Sure." she said as she stepped aside to let him in and she nearly swooned when she smelled his cologne. Mr. Brandon Carr was a gorgeous young teacher of 24 and everyone liked him. The students, especially girls, loved his class and most faculty admired his energetic, youthful approach to teaching. He had jet black, wavy hair, warm brown eyes, smooth pale skin, and a gorgeous smile.

"Do you want anything? Some candy?" she said holding up the bowl as he sat down on the couch and took off his jacket.

"Well, I did say trick or treat…" he teased and she gave him the bowl. "I think, I'll have chocolate." he said as he picked out a mini-sized chocolate bar.

"So, let's get this over with."

"You make it sound like a death sentence."

"Doing homework on the night of a really big party is a death sentence…it's torture."

"Well, I'll make it less painful."

"I doubt that." she said knowing that if this was happening to Casey, Derek would never leave her alone and she was thankful that she wasn't related to him…for several reasons.

They sat there for almost an hour going over new vocabulary terms and some French culture. She changed her mind as she thought about how it wasn't so painful to do homework with him because he focused a lot on the French culture. Before she got sick, she would talk to him after class and he had suggested that she study French at university, since she was nearly fluent already. He encouraged her to study abroad in the summer after her freshman year.

"I don't know, Mr. Carr."

"Call me Brandon. Just for tonight and I feel it's too formal since you offered me candy."

"Brandon." she said feeling weird calling her teacher by his first name. "I hate to admit this, but I'm a little worried about money. I mean, how much did it cost when you went?"

"Well, it is pretty expensive, but it's totally worth it. I had the best time of my life there and I'll always remember it. I mean, you'll never remember sitting in a boring lecture hall for a class, but you'll always remember going to France. The food, the clothes, the music…meeting new people. Like this one time, I was going to a techno club and I stayed out until 6 in the morning. I was totally trashed and I woke up in a strange house with this model. I shouldn't even be telling you any of this…"

"Why not? It's interesting, and it's better than hearing that you just did a bunch of tourist stuff. You really jumped into the lifestyle and went off the beaten path. I wish I could do that, but I'd never have the guts to do that. I mean, I'm social and it's easy for me to talk to strangers. I'm not shy like that or anything, but I don't think I could be…"

"A little reckless." he said as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. "Yeah, well, I'm sure a smart and beautiful girl like you could afford to be a little reckless." he said with a wink and Emily nearly melted into a puddle. Did he just call her beautiful? She could have just died.

"Thank you…" she said blushing.

"Oh, don't tell me you're blushing. I see the way boys stare at you in the hallway and in class. You're beautiful. If I was 17, I'd be in line to ask you out."

"There's a line?" she asked not realizing that she was prettier than she'd thought. She was so used to seeing guys come her way only to ask out Casey instead of her. She refused to feel jealous and thought that, maybe, Derek would ask her out. But that would never happen because he had never seen her as anything more than just a friend.

"Yes, there is a line. You know…god, this is so embarrassing. I think…I've developed a little crush on you. I know, I know…it's inappropriate to have a crush on a student, but I just feel like there's something more going on here." he said as he stared at her and she felt as if her head was spinning. Did he just admit that he had a crush on her? This was too much. "Emily?"

"Yeah…" was all she could say. She admit that she had a crush on him, but so did ever other girl in that school, and everyone knew that it would never truly happen in a million years. It wasn't supposed to be the other way around.

"Emily, don't you feel it. The heat, the electricity." he said as he placed his hand on her knee and just then she noticed how close he was sitting next to her. Was he talking about sex? Did he want her that badly? She felt really hot and she knew she must have been sweating.

"Um…Mr. Carr…Brandon, I think you should go." she said as she was getting off the couch but he stopped her.

"Wait! Aren't you going to answer me? Emily, I know my feelings for you are wrong, but…we could be discreet about this. No one ever has to know about this and what goes on between us. You're a brilliant woman and I like you."

"You're making me uncomfortable. You should really leave."

"That's it?! You're going to ignore your feelings? I know you have a crush on me." he said as she gripped her arm harshly and she became frightened.

"Almost every girl have a crush on you…why pick me? You're hurting me." she said and he loosened his grip, but he didn't let go of her arm.

"Look, Emily, this whole insecure thing is really annoying. You're a such a little fucking cock tease, you know that?!"

"What?! What are you talking about?! I'm not a tease!"

"You walk around the school as if no guy would think you're hot, but you just tease them with your legs in short skirts and your tits in those unbelievably tight shirts! I think you know how much that turns someone on…" he said as tightened his grip on her arm again, and she was fighting to get away from him.

"I told you, I'm not a tease! I dress like every other girl at school!"

"Bullshit! You want the attention…and when someone finally gives it to you, you pull that scared little girl shit!"

"I don't want attention! Let go of me! You're scaring me! Let go!"

"Shut up!" he yelled as he slapped her and forced her to lie down on the couch and he was on top of her. He was kissing her neck as he pinned both her wrists above her head with one hand. She, violently, tried to fight him off by squirming around like crazy as he undid his jeans.

"No! Don't do this! Please…don't! Get off!"

"Oh, I'll get off alright…" he said as he moved his other hand under the skirt of her costume and ripped off her panties. She yelped and started to panic when she saw him reaching into the pocket of his jeans and he pulled out a condom. He tore open the foil packet with his teeth and slipped the condom on his cock. She felt his hard cock against her thigh, and she started to cry. She had had sex with only one guy, Sheldon. It was after he told her that he was moving away and she wanted to do it because he was her first love and she wanted to share one last special moment with him before he left. She never told Casey about it.

He pulled down the top of her costume exposing her large breasts to him and he took a chocolate colored nipple into his mouth. He licked and sucked roughly and moved on to her other breasts. She tried to kick him, but he pinned her legs down with his legs.

"Stop fighting this, Emily. You know you want it!" he said as he continued to lick and suck her breast occasionally biting down hard on her nipple.

"No! I don't! Please, let me go!" she sobbed out.

"Fuck, you taste so sweet. Just like chocolate or caramel. Your tits are incredible." he said as he whispered into her ear as he moved his free hand back down to his cock and stroked it a bit before positioning himself at her dry entrance and she knew that this would hurt.

"No, no, no! Ahh!" she screaming as he entered her and he muffled her screams with a brutal kiss. He began thrusting in and out of her in a rapid rhythm causing her to scream louder.

"You're not a virgin…I'm not surprised…" he said as he fucked her harder. "Shit…you feel so good. Oh shit…" he said panting and breathing heavily and Emily laid there trying to forget. She had stopped screaming and he was making all the noise. "Oh shit, oh shit…I love you, Emily! Oh fuck!" he said right before he came and she winced as she felt his warm liquid spill into the condom. She was thankful that he knew to use a condom. He pulled out of her and collapsed onto her kissing her neck and whispering in her ear about how she was a good fuck.

Minutes later, he had got off of her and got rid of the used condom. He tucked himself back in his jeans. She just laid on the couch facing away from him crying silently into a throw pillow. Her body ached and she felt so dirty.

"Emily." he said as she winced when he said her name. "Don't tell anyone about this. We'll just keep this as our little secret and no one has to know about this. If you tell anyone about this…you'll never get to go to France. Do you understand?" he said and she didn't answer him. She couldn't. "Emily!" he yelled and she jumped.

"Yes! Yes, I understand…" she croaked out.

"Good girl. I had fun tonight. Happy Halloween." he said as he kissed her forehead before he left and she laid there until she got up and went to her room and sobbed for hours.


	2. Chapter 1

One month later, Emily was sitting in French class hearing Brandon (she lost respect for him to call him Mr. Carr) discuss a project involving them cooking a French meal and bringing it to class. She was unable to comprehend why she couldn't be moved to another class. She had gone to the office a few days after her rape because it was torture to face the man that tore her world apart. She had requested to be moved, but the secretary didn't see the point in moving her in the middle of the semester, especially since she wasn't failing the class. So, she was stuck watching Brandon walk around pretending that he didn't rape her. She just wanted to shout out loud that he was a rapist. She wanted someone to know the pain she was going through, but she just couldn't do it. She was afraid to tell anyone, not even her best friend, Casey. In fact, she had stopped talking to Casey because she knew that she wouldn't be able to hide her pain from her. They had always known when each other were feeling down, and it they were there for each other. But, Emily felt as if she didn't have anyone that would know how she was feeling.

"Emily," Brandon said snapping her out of her thoughts and she started to shiver as she heard her name coming from his lips. "Your partner for this project will be Derek. You were paying attention, weren't you?" he said staring at her and she glared at him. He wore a smirk on his face that, to someone else, it would seem like a smirk of a teacher catching a student in the act of daydreaming, but, to her, she knew that he was smirking at her for a very different reason. She wanted to vomit as she knew his dark eyes was piercing into her practically screaming out with the smug satisfaction that he raped her and she was, slowly, breaking down…and no one knew it.

Suddenly, the bell rang and Derek was standing beside her desk as people filed out of the classroom. She still couldn't believe that she had such a huge crush on him after everything that has happened. She wished she could tell him…part of her wanted to tell him. She needed to tell somebody in case Brandon did this again to another student. But, her fear wouldn't let her.

"So, Em, here's the deal. How about you do the research and I present in class? Seeing that I work most of the time and I have hockey practice, I won't have time for any of this…"

"Derek, I'm not doing all the work…" she said flatly as stood up and they walked out of the room together and she started walking faster when she felt Brandon's eyes on her.

"But, I won't have any time to work on it and since you're being a mutant copy of Casey and getting better grades, maybe you could help me out. By the way, Casey says hello. She's a little upset that you don't talk anymore. But I understand."

"You do?" she said looking worried. How could he have known about what happened? She had never told anyone and she tried her best to seem as normal as possible. She even dressed the same in order to keep people from being suspicious. What was it that made it obvious that she had been raped?

"Yeah, Casey is super annoying and I'd move to Germany to get away from her."

"Oh…" she said feeling relieved that he didn't know.

"So, what do you want to do about the project? I think Nora has some French cookbooks. Maybe we could find a recipe out of one of those. Hey, how about after practice you come over and we could check that out. I'm sure Casey would be dying to see you…" he said rolling his eyes at the possibility of a mushy girl fest.

"Thanks Derek, but I can't."

"You know how much I hate doing research. Give me a chance to be the good guy for once. I'm pretty sure that would look good with the 'rents if I show them I'm working hard on my schoolwork. Maybe I'll even tell them about the party I'm going to next weekend even though I'm grounded or I will be…" he said laughing and she knew that he was joking about the telling his parents part. "you're coming to the party, right?"

"Next weekend? I don't know…I think I have to baby-sit Dimi."

"Oh come on…don't let Casey stop you from having fun. I'm pretty sure she'll mellow out once she sees you tonight and you two can go back to being the best of friends annoying you and me with her problems."

"Well, I do miss her…" she said hating how much she distanced herself from Casey. She missed her so much and she wanted to be friends again. She needed her friend right now. "How upset is she with me? Does she seem really hurt?"

"Does is look like I get involved with her 'feelings', Emily?" he said grimacing. "Look, all I know is that she mopes around and gripes at me for some reason that I don't know…Okay, I do know, but that's not the point. I'm just saying that she's worried about you and…I am too. Don't spread that around, I have a rep to protect, but yeah…I'm worried about you."

"She's worried about me?" she said knowing that she wasn't very good at hiding her pain. "And you're worried about me?" she asked in disbelief. She never thought that he would be worried about her since he had made it known that he didn't like her as anything more than a friend, and perhaps he was just worried about her as a friend.

"I am. I know it doesn't come across, but sometimes…I can be 'sensitive'." he said as he grimaced again and Emily laughed at how he hated to admit that. She realized that it had been a long time since she was able to laugh.

"Thank you, Derek…" she said trying to fight back the tears, but it wasn't working.

"Oh no…I don't do tears…gotta go." he said as he turned to walk away.

"Wait!" she said not wanting him to leave. He was the one person that was able to make her laugh in a long time and she didn't want to let that feeling go so quickly. "I promise to stop crying if you give Casey a message for me."

"Sure. What is it?"

"Tell her…that I miss her and if she wants to, we can be friends again. Oh, and tell her I'm sorry for…" she stopped as she saw Derek's face change and she was looking behind her. She turned around and Casey was standing there. "Casey…" she said a little unsure of how she would react. She knew that Casey was upset with her, and she didn't know if she would forgive her for not talking to her. Maybe she would understand if she knew what happened.

"Oh Em!" Casey said as she hugged her. "I've missed you, too!" Casey said as she cried and Emily felt horrible for what she did to Casey. The poor girl was lost without her, and she was lost without Casey.

"I think I'm going to be sick…" Derek said and Casey glared at him.

"Why do you have to ruin such a special moment?"

"I had to or I was going to blow chunks all over this floor."

"Gross, Derek! Come on, Em, we have a lot of catching up to do."

"Casey, do you think we could do that later? I'm coming over to your house tonight to work on a project with Derek. Is that okay with you?"

"Of course, it's okay! You have no idea how much I just wanted you to come over, but I thought…never mind. It doesn't matter. I'm glad we're talking again."

"Me too…" Emily said as she realized she was an idiot to shut Casey out of her life, but she knew she still couldn't tell her the truth.


	3. Chapter 2

Emily felt weird as she walked into the Venturi-McDonald household, but she knew it was good to be there. It was better than being in her own home where she was reminded of her rape over and over every time she walked by the couch in her living room.

"Hey, Em!" Casey said as she hugged her again a little too tightly. Emily saw Derek in his chair watching highlights from a hockey game and Casey rolled her eyes. "Derek! Emily is here. Would you at least pretend that you have manners and greet her?"

"Sup, Em?" he said without looking away from the screen and Emily knew an argument was about to happen and she had missed seeing those between Casey and Derek.

"Hey, Derek." she said as she sat down not realizing that Casey was chattering on about what annoying thing Truman did to her that day. She didn't want to admit it, but Casey really annoyed her with her petty problems. She wished that Casey didn't worry about the small shit that Truman did to her. Okay, maybe she was being a little mean, she thought, but she was forever a changed person.

"Emily, let's go to my room. I have a feeling that Derek, the caveman, won't be of any use until they start talking about football."

"Okay…" she said as she followed Casey to her room. She didn't really want to be alone with Casey because she knew that Casey would pick up on her strange vibe and start the interrogation. Sure, it would be nice and she would have fun because she truly missed her best friend, but she hated that they were so different now. She hoped she could fake being normal until she could manage to get Derek away from the TV.

"So, what took you so long?" Casey said feigning anger. "I've missed you so much. Were you mad at me or something? Did I do something wrong? Was I…"

"Casey." Emily said interrupting her because she felt guilty. How could she had let Casey think that it was her fault? "It's not you. I was just…going through things. I just needed some time alone, but I don' hate you and I'm not mad at you."

"Oh…do you want to tell me about it? I might not be able to understand, but I can listen…I've really missed you, Em."

"I know…maybe later. I really don't want to talk about it right now."

"Okay." Casey said and Emily was grateful that she didn't keep pressuring her into talking about it. "So, what do you want to talk about?" she said knowing that she didn't want to push it with Emily. They had just starting talking that day and she didn't want to ruin it by pushing Emily into admitting to some personal struggle she didn't feel comfortable talking to her about it. Maybe, she could convince Emily into talking to Paul. He always helped her whenever she couldn't talk to Emily about how annoying Derek was because of her crush on him. Perhaps, she could talk to him because she couldn't stand thinking that her friend was upset.

"Truman."

"Ugh! He's so cocky and annoying! It's like he's another Derek."

"Well, that's not so bad."

"To you. You've had a crush on him since you were kids. I'd say that would make you a little biased." she said in a matter of fact tone.

"Okay, okay…" she said thinking about how she was glad that she wasn't on the debate team because she would have lost if the subject was about her biggest crush, Derek Venturi. "but, look at it this way. Truman is cute and you obviously have chemistry together. Or are you still thinking about Max?"

"What?! No…" she said and Emily gave her a look. "Yes. I saw him in the hall today and he spoke to me. I don't know, it's like I was falling for him all over again. But, I know that I can't be with him again. He made me an airhead. I mean, I was a cheerleader. How shallow could you get?" she said shuddering and cringing at how stupid she must have seemed.

"Yeah, but you were a good one."

"I like being the old me…writing poetry, reading, thinking deep thoughts."

"Crushing on Truman. Or are you crushing on Noel?"

"I am not crushing on Truman! And Noel was just my friend."

"Yeah, a friend that really liked you. Face it, Case, he was so in love with you and you felt the same way. You even told me that you thought Noel would be an ideal boyfriend."

"Yeah, for someone else. He's just…so much like me. It'd be like dating myself."

"I thought you would like that…" she said laughing and it was another genuine laugh. She hated that she had spent so much time away from her friend, but she was starting to feel better. She wondered if she could tell Casey about what happened to her, but she didn't want to ruin the good feeling she had. It took her a long time to really laugh and she didn't want to let her good feeling go so easily.

"Casey!" Edwin shouted from downstairs. "Dinner's ready!" he said and Emily looked at the clock not realizing that she had been in Casey's room for about three hours.

"Wow, I didn't realize how late it was…I think I should go."

"Wait, I could ask if you could stay for dinner. In fact, I think I want you to sleep over. I've really missed you and you still have to work on your research with Derek."

"I don't know…" she said feeling unsure about it.

"Please, mom and George won't mind. They've missed you, too."

"Okay, fine…"

"Great! Come with me." she said as she dragged Emily downstairs. "Mom, is it okay if Emily joins us for dinner? Oh, and could she stay over tonight?"

"Sure. George, set another place at the table. How are you, Emily?"

"I'm great…" she said hoping she sounded convincing and she did. Nora just nodded and helped George with dinner. Emily, sat down at the table and enjoyed the dinner. She had missed the arguments that would ensue during dinner between the McDonalds and the Venturis. It was nice to be amidst such chaos that wasn't her own.

"Well, that's wonderful. Oh, Derek told me about your little project in French class and I have the cookbooks laid out on the coffee table in the living room."

"Thank you, Mrs. McDonald."

"You're welcome and if you need to, you can use our kitchen. In fact, I think I would want to watch that because that would be the only time I would ever see Derek in the kitchen and not looking for food." she said laughing and everybody laughed expect Derek.

After dinner, Emily went home and told her parents that she was staying over with Casey and she got a sleepover bag ready. Her parents were excited that she was talking to Casey again. They had figured the silent treatment was about some argument between them or that they had gotten into a fight. Although she was a little nervous about spending an entire night with Casey without telling her about the rape, she was also excited. She knew that Casey would pull out all the sleepover staples and it would be comforting. She needed a night of just having fun with her best friend to forget that she was a broken girl.


	4. Chapter 3

After picking out a French dish with Derek, Emily started her sleepover with Casey. They watched chick flicks, ate junk food, and did silly makeovers. Everything seemed almost back to normal and Casey was glad to have her best friend back. Emily was just glad that she could have a normal night with her best friend. She had laughed and smiled more than she had since that night. Everything was perfect until they went to sleep.

"Emily! Emily, what's wrong?!" Casey said as she shook Emily awake. Emily had screamed in her sleep and it appeared that she had a nightmare. When she woke up, she was sobbing and she finally stopped thrashing about. By the time she had stopped screaming, Nora, George, and Derek were in Casey's room.

"Emily, are you okay? Casey what happened?" Nora asked as she went over to her daughter. "Oh Emily, you're soaked with sweat. Did you have a nightmare?"

"Y-Yeah…" she said as she was still crying. She was embarrassed that she nearly woke up the entire Venturi McDonald household with her screams. She felt like such an idiot and knew that it was a bad idea to sleepover with the possibility of having a nightmare about Brandon. She had been having them off and on ever since that night and she thought that they had stopped, and would stop for good once she was with her best friend. "This is embarrassing…"

"There is nothing to be embarrassed about, Emily. Everyone has nightmares. Would you like to talk about it? I could make you a cup of tea if you'd like."

"No…I mean, no thank you, Mrs. McDonald. I'm sorry for waking all of you up."

"Don't be sorry, Emily." George said trying to comfort her. "Like Nora said everyone has nightmares and there is nothing to be ashamed about. So, you screamed out loud…it was your natural reaction. We won't hate you for it."

"Thanks. I'm fine. Really, I am. You can go back to bed, and I'm sorry for waking you up." she said feeling even more guilty that she woke them up in the middle of the night. She didn't even want to know how late or early it was.

"You're welcome, Emily." Nora said as she hugged her. "Casey, maybe you should talk to Emily and help her relax."

"Okay, mom. Goodnight." she said as everyone left and she turned to Emily. "Are you sure you're okay? I don't think I've ever seen you like that after having a nightmare."

"I'm fine, Casey." she lied hoping that she sounded convincing. "It was just some stupid nightmare. I think my brain might have confused all the romantic comedies with a horror movie." she said chuckling trying to sound playful.

"Are you sure?" Casey asked and Emily wished she hadn't decided to do the sleepover.

"Yes, I'm sure. Just a stupid dream. I'm fine."

"Okay…Well, since we're both up, do you want to do anything?"

"Sure. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know…hmm…We could watch another movie, but that probably wouldn't be a good idea since the movies gave you the nightmare."

"Yeah…" Emily trailed off trying to block her nightmare out of her head. "We could try talking." she suggested knowing that soon Casey would be asleep.

It worked. Casey was lightly snoring after about an hour of talking about celebrities, TV, fashion, and music. Emily refused to let herself fall asleep, but as she stayed awake, she realized that she was very thirsty. She decided to go downstairs to get a glass of water. She was in the kitchen getting a glass when she heard footsteps on the stairs. She knew that it couldn't have been Brandon, but, still, her heart was racing.

"Hello?" she barely managed to get out.

"Hey, Em." Derek said as he flicked the light on.

"Sorry, did I wake you up…again?" she said feeling embarrassed.

"Not exactly. I still couldn't sleep."

"Sorry about that. I guess I just ate to much junk food and I had a weird dream."

"Yeah…about that. I don't believe you. See, you and Casey were watching mushy chick flicks and eating junk so there's no way you could have a nightmare unless you were me and you hated that kind of thing. So, what was your real nightmare?"

"That was my real nightmare and I don't have to tell you even if it wasn't. So, drop it."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Emily. I can't sleep thanks to you and I think I deserve to know why you woke half the house up in the middle of the night."

"Derek, just leave me alone…" she said as her voice cracked. She rolled her eyes at herself for crying and doing it in front of Mr. I don't do tears.

"Emily…" he said in a soft voice. Something very unexpected coming from Derek. "What's wrong? For real. We're friends."

"We are?"

"Yeah, remember when I said that I consider you one of my first girl friends, but not my girlfriend…Well, you know."

"Yeah. I know." she said hating that he still didn't see her as anything more than a friend. But, girlfriend or not this was her chance to tell someone what happened to her. "You have to promise not to tell Casey or anyone about what I'm going to tell you."

"Okay, I promise. So, tell me. What is it?"

"A month ago, when I was sick, on Halloween night. Mr. Carr came to my house and dropped off some work that I missed."

"Oh, that must have sucked. Homework on one of the most best night for candy and pranks." he said and Emily gave him a look. "Sorry, please, continue."

"We started going over the class work and talking about France when…he told me he had a crush on me. He started calling me a tease when I told him he was making me uncomfortable. I told him to leave and he wouldn't. Derek, he…he…" she said as she started to cry and she knew that this was making him uncomfortable so she tried to control her crying. Once she settled down, she continued. "He…raped…me…" she said as she cried silent tears. Derek was silently staring off into space and she wished she knew what he was thinking. His face didn't show any emotion, and it worried her. "Derek, what are you doing?" she said as he ran to the phone.

"Calling the fucking cops."

"No! Don't!" she said as she grabbed the phone and he looked confused.

"Emily, that sick son of a bitch raped you…"

"It happened a month ago and, he said he'll kill me. Please, I just want to forget about this. Don't tell anyone about this. I don't want to think about it again. Please, just let it go."

"I can't do that. That bastard needs to pay for what he did to you. He needs to be in jail."

"I know, but what am I going to tell them. That I'm reporting a rape a month later without any evidence or anything. We have to keep this quiet, okay?"

"Fine…if that's what you want. I'm sorry you had to keep this to yourself."

"Me too…" she said as she hugged him. A small part of her felt better.


	5. Chapter 4

The next morning Emily woke up feeling a little less than alert. She was only able to get about two hours of sleep after she and Derek left the kitchen. Even after her confession to Derek, she was still a little uneasy. Perhaps she was even more uneasy. She had told someone about Brandon's terrible act and he threatened to kill her if she told anyone about it. Still, she was glad that she told someone, and even more glad that it was Derek.

"Good morning, Emily." Nora said trying to hide that she was eyeing her with caution as Emily descended the staircase and found Casey's mother sitting on the sofa.

"Good morning." she simply said in a nonchalant tone. She didn't want to freak her out more so she just did what she had grown accustomed to doing, pretend.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm sure. It was just some stupid nightmare." she said hoping that Nora would back off. Just as she saw Nora open her mouth to say something else, Casey was walking down the stairs and Emily turned her attention to her as Nora left the room. "Good morning, Casey." she said smiling what she hoped was a genuine smile that didn't give her any reason to question her sanity.

"Hey, Em. How are you?"

"I'm fine." she snapped but quickly realized that make her look suspicious. "I mean, I'm okay. I just wish people would quit asking me that after some stupid nightmare."

"Sorry, Em. So, are you staying over today?" Casey asked with an enthusiastic excitement that made Emily feel guilty that she had neglected her friend for so long. She wasn't really in the mood for pretending to be happy for Casey's benefit, but she didn't want to abandon her and squash the renewed friendship.

"Um…I…" she said, but she was saved by Derek doing something to annoy Casey behind her back and Emily couldn't help but laugh when she finally felt Derek putting cereal in her hair.

"Der-rek!" Casey shouted as she turned around and the cereal fell to the floor. "You are such a child! I hope you know that you're stupid pranks are starting to lose their effect."

"Really? Then you're not going to get effected if I tell you that I went through your things in your room and destroyed all of your precious poems."

"You didn't…" she said glaring at him and he smirked. "Derek, I will kill you if you did anything to my poems!" she said as she raced upstairs to her room and screamed.

"What did you do?" Emily asked as she smiled at Derek's never-ending torment of Casey.

"Nothing, much. I didn't destroy her poems. I just wrecked her room to give us some time alone. What are you going to do? I mean about class Monday."

"Present our project as if everything was normal. I mean, I've been going this long staring at his face everyday since that night and I've dealt with it. Besides, I tried to get out of his class almost immediately after it happened and they wouldn't move me without a valid reason. And, of course, I didn't tell anyone the real reason I wanted to leave. So…"

"Emily," Derek interrupting her. "I don't know if I can just sit in his class and forget about what he did to you. I mean, what if you're not the only student he's raped?"

"Well, maybe she'll come forward…"

"Are you listening to yourself?! Are you seriously thinking of letting him get away with this? You're not even getting over it, you're ignoring it. I can tell. You can't even say rape." he said and Emily knew he was right, but her instant reaction was to get angry.

"Why do you care, Derek? It's not like you and I have any real ties to each other."

"Yes, we do, Emily." he said feeling angry with himself that he told her that he didn't like her as more than a friend because that was a lie. Though, he didn't feel that way about her for a while, he started to like her and he really missed her more than Casey did. Once, he almost confessed his feelings for her, but he just kept it to himself when she started dating Sheldon. Then, Sally came into the picture and it seemed that they were both happy.

"We don't. You barely know me, and I barely know you. I just know that you're really cute and…" she stopped when that unbelievably cute, overly confident smile formed on his face. "And that's not much of a friendship."

"We could learn to be friends. Maybe this could be our bond. We can share something that we can tell no other person. Especially, Casey."

"Are you just saying that because you know that it's going to drive her crazy not knowing the secret we're keeping between us?"

"No…okay, that's a bonus, but I'm really keeping this secret because I care about you. And as much as it's going to be hard not to rip that sick pervert's head off, I will keep this and tell no one. I promise, I won't tell a soul."

"Thanks, Derek." she said as she gave a quick hug to him and pulled away from him when she heard Casey heading for the stairs.

"Derek! You are the most infuriating person in the world! How would you like it if I went into your room and let you believe I destroyed all of your hockey stuff!"

"I know you didn't and you wouldn't because you consider yourself to be above immature behavior." he said and Casey smirked, at trait she developed from years of living with Derek.

"Are you sure about that Derek?" she said and he raced up the stairs to his room. Casey laughed as she looked at him run up the stairs and she turned to Emily. "That'll teach him."

"Did you really ruin his hockey gear?"

"Of course, not. But, seeing his face when I said that was worth it. I know, I know…I stooped to his level, but it was so much fun. So, what are we going to do today? Ooh, I was thinking that maybe we could go shopping. I need a dress for the Winter Ball and I know you're the only person I can trust to help me find one."

"Winter Ball?" she said not realizing it was so close. A lot of things have been slipping her mind lately that didn't involve school work or babysitting her little brother. Her parents were beginning to worry about her because she volunteered babysitting him whenever they went out. Her social life suffered a major blow because she avoided going to parties at all times. The look Casey was giving her told her that she was far more pathetic than she thought. "Oh, yeah that. I almost forgot that. There was this dress I saw the other day, and I have to have it." she lied hoping there was a dress she wanted.

"Great! So, who are you going with?"

"I'm not sure. No one has asked me." she said hoping that no one asked her and she didn't know it. She seemed to be in a haze ever since that night. Just then Derek walked downstairs and thought of a good way to get closer to Emily and piss Casey off at the same time.

"Hey, Em, would you like to go to the Winter Ball with me?"

"Derek!" she said as if he was joking, but Emily saw that he was serious and she nodded.

"Emily?! Can't you see that he is playing you?"

"Space Case, I'm not playing her. She doesn't have a date, and…I don't have a date. Don't let that get out or your poems really will be destroyed and that's it." he said and Emily felt as if her dream was coming true. Too bad it didn't happen earlier, she thought.


	6. Chapter 5

For the first time, in a long time, Emily was really happy. She's spending time with her best friend and she was going to the Winter Ball as Derek's date. At least, there was some part of a fairytale happening to her. She had had a crush on Derek for forever and, now, she was his date. She wanted more, but she knew that he didn't feel for her that way. It was still nice to be his date. It was as if she had forgotten that entire Halloween night, but she knew she would never forget. That would be with her for life, and she only hoped that she would, one day, get over it.

"Ooh, Em, let's go here!" Casey said as they went into a store with a full display of nice dresses. Many of them over-priced, but they were nice dresses…and more Casey's style and size. Not that Emily considered Casey to be selfish, but she was almost self-centered and oblivious to the fact that Emily was way curvier than her. That was something she's been self-conscious about ever since Brandon pointed that out the night he raped her. She would have thrown out all of her shirts and bought bigger, baggier ones to hide her large chest if it didn't seem suspicious.

"Case, this dress is so you." she said as she held up the pale blue fabric of the dress that looked to be more costume than couture. She didn't mean it as an insult, but Casey was always a little over dramatic so it suited her just fine. That was one of the reasons she didn't tell Casey about what Brandon did to her. Derek was angry, but he kept his cool and she hoped he would still keep his cool in class Monday.

"Really?" Casey said with that bright-eyed happiness that told she really wanted the dress.

"Yeah, girl. You should get it. There's not really a dress in here for me…"

"Aww…Ooh, what about the dress you said you wanted? We could see if the store still has it. I'm sure it would look amazing on you."

"Okay. Go ahead, try it on and buy the dress. It looks like it's on sale and I know it will look amazing on you. It's your dream dress."

"It is and I know it will. Oh my god, I'm so lucky."

"Yeah, you are…" Emily trailed off as she left the store as Casey purchased the dress. She was panicking about finding a store with a dress that would be the fake dress she had her eye on. They were on the second level and she looked straight ahead to find a store that seemed like her taste. Just as Casey walked out of the store, Emily just picked a random store and hoped a dress was waiting there for her.

"So, where is the store that's holding your dream dress?"

"Um, right there actually." she said as she pointed to the store and they walked into it. Emily, quickly, looked around for a dress and was taken by surprise by a dress she actually wanted. It was a silk, spaghetti-strap dress the color of deep chocolate brown with turquoise embroidered swirls. "This is it." she said as she held up the dress.

"Wow, it's so beautiful. Try it on!" Casey said as she practically pushed the dress into Emily's hands and shoved her into the dressing room.

"Okay, okay…" Emily said as she went into the dressing room. She changed into the dress and it fit her perfectly. Everything about the dress was Emily…even the price which was less than Casey's dress. She came out and Casey look at her. "What do you think?"

"It's great! Oh, Em, it's perfect."

"Yeah…" Emily said as she looked at herself in the mirror. It had been a while since she truly looked at herself in the mirror. She knew she looked beautiful in that dress and it made her feel good. It had been a long time since she felt beautiful.

"I think a lot of guys are going to be staring at you."

"Hopefully, only one guy will be staring at me." she said hoping that, in that dress, she could hold Derek's attention long enough for him to be distracted from thoughts of Sally. She knew he was missing her, and she knew she couldn't compete with her.

"Ugh…Derek." Casey said as she rolled her eyes.

"Come on, he's not that bad. Sure, he's annoying to you, but you're his sister. He's a decent guy to everyone else."

"No, he's not, Emily. Are you forgetting that he cheated on Kendra?"

"Yeah, and she cheated on him, too. They weren't meant for each other."

"Em, I love you. Don't go to the Winter Ball with Derek hoping that more will develop."

"Casey, you are way too dramatic, you know that? I am his friend. I already know how he feels about me." she said sadly as she hated knowing that Derek will never like her the way she like him. She could only hope for the day he changes his mind.

"I just don't want you to get hurt. I've seen Derek hurt so many girls. You're my best friend, Em. Please, promise me that you'll be careful with your heart."

"I will. So, should I buy it?" Emily said twirling around in the dress.

"Yes, definitely. Oh my god, I can't believe we're this lucky to find dresses this early. Winter Ball is going to be a great night." Casey said with that same bright-eyed excitement that was beginning to annoy Emily. She didn't know why, but Casey was more optimistic than usual. At least, she seemed that way to Emily. Ever since that night, Emily's been a little dark.

"Okay, I'll just take this off and buy it." Emily said as she went back into the dressing room. She changed out of the dress and paid for it.

"So, what do you want to do next. Oh, I've missed you so much, Emily." Casey said as she hugged her and Emily hugged her back. Casey didn't know what had gone on in Emily's life to make her become so distant but she was happy to have her back. She couldn't imagine going dress shopping without her best friend there.

"Hmm…I guess we could go back to your house. You know, I think I should go home. I'm pretty sure my parents would want me to baby-sit today."

"Aww…we were just having fun. Ooh, how about I help you? I'm sure Marti would love to come over and play with Dimi."

"Sure…we could do that." Emily said hoping that she didn't sound too obvious in her reluctance to have Casey there. She hated to admit it, but Casey was annoying her. She began to wonder how long Casey was like this. Had she always been this annoying and she hadn't noticed it? Or, had that night change her so much that she couldn't even see beyond the cloud. But, that couldn't be it, because Derek made her laugh. Even before that night, he made her laugh.

"Great! Hey, do you want to stop for some food before we leave?" Casey asked and Emily just lamely nodded. "Em, are you okay? You don't sound too happy. Was it the dress? You can take it back if you want. I'm sure you can find a dress you really want."

"No, no. It's not the dress. I love the dress. It's just…I…" Emily said trying to come up with a lie that didn't encourage Casey to ask questions. She didn't want to tell Casey about her rape, and she loved that she had only told Derek about it. "I guess, I'm hungrier than I'd thought. I feel like I'm about to faint."

"Oh, well, we should get to the food court right away. What do you want?"

"A burger…a big, sloppy burger." she said laughing as Casey grimaced. She realized that she was starting to act and sound like Derek. Was their newly formed bond affecting her already?


	7. Chapter 6

It had been a pleasant weekend for Emily, but Monday was a different story. She was nervous about how Derek would act in class now that he knew about Emily being raped by their teacher. She wanted him to make sure he would control himself when he saw Brandon in class.

"Derek," Emily said as she walked by him holding a container of their French dessert dish. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked with an unsure look on her face.

"No. Em, he raped you. Like I said, I don't know if I can just sit there knowing what he did to you." he said looking very angry. Very enraged.

"You have to. I don't want anyone to know what happened. I don't want him to know that you know. Something like that gets out…they'll blame me if he gets fired. Everyone likes him…they would never believe that he would do something like that. They won't believe me."

"Okay. I'll be cool. Are you sure you're going to be okay? It must be hell staring at him everyday knowing what he did to you…"

"Pure hell, but I deal with it." she said knowing that was a lie. Derek was right about her, she didn't deal with her rape, she ignored it. Nothing she did to distract herself from her pain covered up the fact that it happened.

They had presented their dish and passed out the samples out to the class. Emily was doing the presentation speaking about the ingredients and some of the history of the dish. Derek had handed out all the samples to the class and was about to give the sample to Mr. Carr. He wanted to punch him in the face, but he promised Emily that he would be chilled. He just glared at him and just kept his fists balled up at his sides in the pocket of his jeans. He stood next to Emily keeping his eye on the sick bastard. He hated the way he stared at Emily…it was so creepy. It was as if he was raping her all over again. Emily was finished talking about her part of her presentation and waited for Derek to speak.

"Derek?" she whispered making him aware of his turn to speak. She stared at him with a pleading look, pleading with him to cool it. He began talking about his part in the presentation and she looked around the room seeing the smiles of several people who loved their dessert. She avoided looking in Brandon's direction knowing that he just did his best to find some obscene way to eat the dessert taunting her about that night he raped her. Derek and Emily finished their presentation and everyone clapped as they took their seats.

"That was great, Derek and Emily. And what better way to end the presentations with dessert. Now, I hoped you all learned a little something about the French. They take pride in the culinary art. They are well-known for their pastry dishes and tarts. Now, when I was in France, I've had the pleasure of eating some of the best food in several restaurants. I admit…I pigged out, but you have to know that it important to eat at places new and different. Because anyone can go to a fast-food chain anywhere and order a burger, but it takes real guts to taste the food prepared by a world-class chef. It is much sweeter to taste the forbidden fruit than to taste the mundane…" he said as he stared at Emily and she wanted to vomit. "Anyway, don't forget about the homework. I want you learn all of the vocabulary terms on page 300. Class dismissed." he said as the bell rang and Emily shot up out of her chair as if a gun had been shot. She rushed out of the class and Derek followed her.

"Emily, wait up! Does that asshole do that all the time?!" he asked wondering if Mr. Carr had always been so cruel and he never noticed it.

"Yeah…I usually try to ignore it. Doesn't work, huh?" she said with a slight chuckle.

"It took everything in me to stop myself from killing him. Em, he was staring at you…I didn't like it. I hated the way he was staring at you. It was almost like he was reliving…you know…that night. Wanted to kill him, but I promised you."

"Thanks. He stares at me a lot. It's like he obsessed with making me remember that night. He always references things and looks at me. Those eyes piercing into me…it makes me sick." she said as she shuddered. She couldn't believe she was telling Derek those things.

"He should be in jail right now. Why didn't you go to the cops after it happened?"

"He threatened me. I was frightened. And…I had believed in the things he said about me. That I was a tease. I thought maybe someone would think that I wanted it because of my crush."

"That still doesn't give that asshole the right to rape you."

"I know…" she said as she saw Casey coming their way. "Hey, Casey."

"Hey, Em. How did your presentation go? Did Derek make you do all the work?" she said as she glared at Derek.

"No, he didn't, and it was nice. People loved our dish."

"I bet they would love it even more if they saw Derek in the kitchen making it."

"Ha, ha, klutzilla. Why don't you go grade grub some teacher or something?" he said and Casey glared at him before turning to Emily.

"So, Em, guess what wonderful thing happened to me today."

"What, Casey?" Emily said trying to hide that she was annoyed with all the wonderful things that always happened to Casey. She stared at Derek and he smirked at her. He must have picked up her annoyed vibe and she was sure he found it funny.

"I got the lead in the new play! We're doing My Fair Lady! I'm so excited!"

"That's great! Congratulations, Casey!"

"Yeah…Space Case," Derek said rolling his eyes and he smiled when he saw Casey glaring at him. "I'm sure it would be a hilarious play. I mean, Queen klutzilla is in it after all."

"Derek! You are such a jerk! Anyway, Emily, are you coming over today?" she asked and Emily looked at Derek. She could have sworn that she saw the same curiosity and interest on Derek's face that Casey wore. She began to wonder if Derek was serious about that being closer friends thing. If so, that would be the best thing to happen to her because, hopefully, eventually, he would want her as his girlfriend instead of as a girl who was a friend.

"Yeah, I'm coming over. I might even study with Derek a little…" she said as she laughed at the nervous look on Derek's face when she said study. She knew he hated to study.

"That's a great idea, Em!" Casey said with a tone that suggested she loved the thought of Derek being tortured with school work. "I'm sure Derek is in need of a study partner."

"Yeah…looking forward to it…" Derek said not even hiding his cringe at the thought that he was…studying. But, he realized that it was a way to get closer to Emily. Ever since she told her secret to him, he wanted to be closer to her. Be near her, as much as possible. He was starting to like her, really like her. She had to be brave to face her rapist everyday, and shrug off the little things he did to taunt her. He like that about her. Though, at first, he thought she was coward for not telling anyone about it, but he knew she would be blamed if he was fired. Like she said, everyone likes him. Well, almost everyone…he used to think he was kind of cool, but now that he knew he raped his friend, he hated him.

"Okay, I'll see you two at your house. See you then." Emily said as she walked to her next class. She didn't know why, but she was starting to feel a lot closer to Derek than she felt to Casey. Maybe sharing a dark secret really did bring people closer together.


	8. Chapter 7

When Derek went home after hockey practice, he did something he never thought he would do in a million years…he cleaned his room. Luckily, Emily was hanging out in Casey's room before she was going to study with him. He didn't know why, but he wanted to make sure his room was perfect for her. He had never done anything like that for a girl…not even for Kendra or Sally. Maybe he did it to make her more comfortable. She really needed comfort after what happened to her. But, he didn't want it to make it seem like her pitied her. He knew she would hate that, so he would try to treat her as if she was Sam or Ralph. Be her friend.

"Derek?" Emily said as she knocked on his door before she went into his room. "I'm ready to study if you are." she said with a smile that almost make him forget they were studying.

"Ugh…why did I agree to this? You're lucky I like you so much…" he said smiling then he panicked because he didn't want to tell her that he liked her…at least not yet anyway. "I mean…you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I know. So, I looked over the terms, and I think you're going to love it." Emily said changing the subject because she refused to allow herself to feel a false sense of hope that he might actually really like her. "It's about sports. Hey, maybe you could help me with sports. I still don't know anything about hockey." she said and Derek was shocked. "I know, I know. I'm such a girl. Never thought it would be this hard to have a girl friend, huh?"

"Eh, I could teach you. Of course, you're going to have to do some homework if I show you." he said liking the idea of teaching a girl about sports.

"Are you going to teach me about hockey the same way you taught Casey about football?" she said as she eyed him suspicious and laughed.

"No. I did that to make her look like an idiot. I wouldn't do that to you. I can be nice." he said and Emily looked at him with a look of disbelief.

"Sure you can…" she said and they laughed.

About an hour later, they stopped studying. Derek felt like his head was going to explode because he had never studied this much with the exception of cramming before a test. But that wasn't the only thing driving him crazy. He never really looked at Emily as much as he did within that hour. She was beautiful. The way her bright, brown eyes sparkled and became even brighter every time she stared at him. Her skin was smooth like the milkiest, creamiest chocolate. Her curly, dark brown hair, she sometimes wore straight, smelled like coconut. Her full lips were like soft pillows he wanted to rest his lips upon. Suddenly, he felt sick at the mushy thoughts he was thinking when he thought about Emily. It scared him because, for the first time, he wanted to feel those things. He cared about her, and she trusted him with her secret. He knew that would bring them closer together, but he never imagined them being that close for her to be his…girlfriend.

"Emily?" he said and she looked up from the text book.

"Yeah?" she said noticing the way he stared at her and she looked at him with caution. She didn't want to get her hopes up only to be let down, but she could have sworn that she saw him staring at her the way a boyfriend would stare at his girlfriend. "What's up?"

"How do you do it? How do you look at his face everyday? It must be hard…" he said knowing that he couldn't bring himself to ask her something like being his girlfriend when he wasn't even sure if he seriously wanted her to be his girlfriend.

"It is hard. It was harder at first, but it got better. Especially, since I know you're there. I know, I know…it sounds cheesy." she said rolling her eyes at herself for being such a dork.

"No, it doesn't. Okay, it does, but you can be cheesy." he said and Emily rolled her eyes only this time it wasn't at herself and she seemed annoyed and angry. "Emily?"

"Stop treating me like I'm precious crystal, Derek." she snapped at him. She didn't want to, but she was tired of people treating her like a fragile person. If people treated her that way because she had some stupid nightmare, she didn't even want to imagine how they would be if they knew about her rape. "You never treated any of your girlfriends with this much care and you definitely don't treat Sam this way. Stop looking at me with that cautious look. Treat me the same as you do anyone else."

"Whoa, what the hell are you talking about?! Where in the fuck did this come from?!"

"Derek, be honest with me. Are you being nice to me because you feel sorry for me?" she asked looking at him with hurt and angry eyes.

"No, I don't feel sorry for you. I mean…I do but I'm not doing this out of sympathy. Don't make me do this. You know I'm not good at talking about my feelings."

"Well, do what you do to get good at hockey…practice. Are you doing this because you feel sorry for me, yes or no?" she said not wanting to hear his true answer to her question.

"No. I'm being nice to you because…you're my friend and I'm trying to support you not pity you. And you're not Casey so you get better treatment than her. So, forgive me if it comes across as pity because I just want to be there for you. If you'd like, I can treat you like Sam and Ralph. Though, I doubt you'd want to hear the conversations we usually have."

"I don't think I want that," she said laughing not even wanting to imagine the things they talk about. "but don't treat me like some delicate flower, okay?"

"Okay." he said feeling a little stupid that he didn't tell her the real reason he wanted to be friends with her. It was his fault anyway for not seeing it sooner that he liked her and wanted her to be his girlfriend. He was the blame for her thinking he pitied her.

"Okay. So, do you want to go back to studying or are we done?" she said looking at him and she laughed a little when he panicked at the thought of studying again.

"I think we've had enough studying for tonight. How about we get started on that hockey lesson. There's a game on right now. We could make some popcorn eat a bag of chips and watch it together. I think I wouldn't mind explaining the game to you."

"Uh…thanks, but I think I should go hang out with Casey. I don't think she'll be to happy that I would blow her off to watch a hockey game with you. Especially, since she doesn't like that I…was spending time with you studying." she said not wanting to tell him that she liked him because she was trying to, mentally, prepare herself for being his friend…just his friend.

"Okay, how about tomorrow? You could come watch me during practice while Casey's at that dumb play rehearsal. Coach doesn't mind."

"Sure, I can do that. You're going to have to explain all of it at the end of it though…" she said looking a little embarrassed that she was clueless about the one sport her crush…new friend played. She really had to stop thinking of Derek as a crush, she thought.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." he said as he looked at her unsure of how to end the awkwardness of them sitting there not knowing how to say goodbye. Suddenly, she hugged him and he was frozen because he was unsure if she was hugging him as a friend or as a girlfriend.

"Sorry." she said as she pulled away and laughed, nervously. "Yeah…I should go to Casey's room. Bye." she said as she jumped up from his bed and went into Casey's room. He watched her leave and knew that it was a bad idea to spend so much time with her. He knew that he was going to fall in love with her and he knew neither of them was sure about that.


	9. Chapter 8

The next day, Emily was sitting in the stands watching the hockey team practice. She didn't even understand what was going on, but she loved seeing how Derek was so focused. It was as if he had turned into a serious person and she knew that hockey was his passion. Well, he did like rocking out with his band, D-Rock, but she knew it didn't compare to hockey. Though, she knew he looked cuter when he played guitar. No, she thought. She knew she was going to have a hard time adjusting to her new friendship with him, and she didn't want to have false hopes so, she pushed that thought outside her mind and just watched Derek play.

"Hey, Em!" Derek called out after he had changed and sat by her in the stands. "So, I'm hungry and I know you must be starving. Do you want to go by Smelly Nelly's a get a burger to something? I get a discount." he said knowing that it would seem like a date and part of him wanted her to think that they were on a date. So bad, he wanted to tell her that he wanted her to be his girlfriend, but he didn't know how she truly was. He knew the rape had altered her a lot, and he hated himself for thinking such lustful thoughts about her because that would make him just like that son of bitch who raped her. The more she told him about what happened and what he had said about her, the more Derek wanted to kill him.

"Sure. By the way, you're going to have to explain everything to me."

"Everything? Alright…" he said as she sighed playfully. "Let's go." he said as the left.

About an hour later, they were sitting at Smelly Nelly's talking about hockey. Derek was patient with her when he was explaining hockey to her. She was very quick with understanding it and she could see why Derek liked it so much.

They were having a great time talking until Casey sent her a text asking her why she was sitting in on Derek's practice instead of watching her rehearse for the play.

"Derek, if I tell you something, would you promise to not tell Casey?" she asked.

"Sure…" he said, slowly, unsure if he was going to hear another deep dark secret.

"I'm really annoyed with Casey…Sometimes, I can't stand to be around her…"

"I don't blame you!" Derek said not seeing that Emily was quite serious. Everyone knew how he felt about her, but he never would have guessed that she would feel the same.

"Derek, I don't like feeling this way. She's my best friend, but sometimes, I think she's just so wrapped up in her own world that she just doesn't see anything else. I know you don't like talking about feelings, but humor me, okay?" she said and he nodded. "Do you think I'm wrong for feeling like this?" she asked as she stared at him and he had a serious look on his face.

"I don't know…I mean, I can't say if it's right or not…I'm a little biased being Casey's brother and all, but you've changed since…" he said and he wished that he hadn't said it because she looked as if she wanted to cry. "Not, that I'm saying you've change in a bad way. I mean, you're totally cool…like cooler than cool. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you're more mature. And according to Casey and my parents, that not a bad thing."

"Yeah, but I've shut her out of my life and kept her out of the loop. Like sometimes, I wonder how I would feel if I told Casey about it instead of you. I wonder if she would judge me. I, also, didn't want to tell her because I know how much of a drama queen she is. Not that I didn't want to tell her…It's just easier to tell if you barely knew the person. I mean, no offense, but you're the ideal person to tell something like this. Your thing about not talking about feelings and all…" she said laughing and he was laughing also. He knew that they thought it was funny, but he knew that was one of the reasons most of his girlfriends hated him.

"True, but I did tell you that I have rare occasions…when I can be a little…sensitive."

"Ah, Derek Venturi, the sensitive guy." Emily, sarcastically, said as she laughed.

"Okay, okay, I know I need a lot of help with that, but I'm getting there. You're helping a lot with that. I never knew having a girl friend…um…I mean…"

"Derek, I get it. You don't have to walk on eggshells every time you say that. I know what you're talking about, so don't worry about it. Okay?"

"Yeah…" he said as he wanted to shout that he did want to date her. He wanted her to be his girlfriend. After all this time, he was the one with the crush. "So, what else do you want to do? It's still kind of early. I'm sure we could do something…"

"I don't know…I think I should go home and study." Emily said wanting to kick herself for acting like such a dork. She was hanging out with Derek. Even though it wasn't a date, which she wished it was, she was spending time with him.

"Come on…I know you love studying, but I don't. Besides, you need to have fun. Don't let that asshole ruin you life. I mean, you're with the most fun guy on earth right now…"

"Fine. What did you want to do?" she said knowing that he was right. He was a lot of fun. She never knew that Derek would be so interesting. "Remember…I'm a girl." she said reminding him that she probably wouldn't like doing things he usually does with his guy friends.

"Yeah, I know…" Derek said thinking about how he loved that she was a girl. He never did anything like this with Sam. "We could see a movie."

"I'm not really in the mood to see a movie. There's nothing interesting playing."

"Okay…we could…" he trailed off thinking how difficult it was having a girl for a friend and not being able to make out with her. Not, that he thought about doing that with Emily. He knew she would have a hard time with guys after what happened to her, and, even though he wanted to kiss her, he respected her.

"How about we just go for a walk in the park? I know that's not usually your thing, but…we'll be here all night if we sit here thinking of stuff to do."

"I would do that…but we drove here, remember? And it'd be pretty late by the time we got back here." he said knowing that he wouldn't stop himself from kissing her if they took a walk in the park. It was the sort of thing guys did with girls when they wanted to make out or have sex. He figured that wasn't a good idea since Emily only wanted to be his friend.

"Oh, yeah. Well, I guess we should call it a night then. It was fun hanging out with you and I loved watching you practice. I never thought hockey would be so interesting. I think I might actually come to the game."

"You should go to the game. If I spent this much time teaching you about hockey, you better go to the game. You're a fast learner, by the way."

"Yeah, I know. I think I've never realized it until I started studying so much. I can't believe I'm going to tell you this, but I actually volunteered to baby-sit Dimi. I know, I know. It's lame. I just needed something to keep me busy…get my mind off of that night, you know?"

"Aren't glad that I showed up. Now, you don't have to volunteer for that. I mean, I love Marti and all, but I would never volunteer to do that."

"Yeah, I know. But, I'm hanging out with you and it's fun. Thanks for giving me my life back. I don't know what I would do if you hadn't stepped up to being my friend."

"Hey, don't mention it. Do you want to hang out tomorrow night? I know, for sure, that there is a great concert a little band called D-Rock is playing."

"I heard they suck." she said laughing at face he made. "I'm kidding. Of course, I'll go."


	10. Chapter 9

Both Emily and Derek were tired from attending and playing the small concert the night before. She had never realized how good D-Rock was until she heard them that night, and they were good. She loved that Derek was so talented. Though, it was a little awkward hearing him play the song he wrote for Sally when they were dating. She knew that they could only be friends, but it was still hard for her to sit there and hear a song that could have been written for her. She still was holding on to the thought of being his girlfriend.

"Emily." Derek whispered to her as he noticed she was falling asleep in French class. They had moved to the back of the class sitting next to each other. He wasn't as tired as she was, because he had an away game that night. He had been noticing that Casey was getting jealous of their closeness so, reluctantly, he did the right thing and encouraged Emily to hang out with Casey more. Besides, it was a good way to keep Casey from becoming suspicious.

"Yeah?" she whispered back as she jerked awake. "I'm awake."

"Barely…" he said laughing.

"Derek," Brandon called out. "is my class distracting you from your conversation?"

"No." Derek said trying to hide his rage. He saw the way he was staring at Emily and he hated it. There was something about the way he was staring at her. It almost seemed like he was planning something…as if he knew that Derek knew he raped Emily.

"Well, good. Now, would you pay attention, please?" he said as he returned to the lecture. The bell rang for class and they walked out of class together. They were going to talk, but they saw Casey coming towards them.

"Hey, Em!" Casey said as she smiled. "are you going to watch me rehearse tonight?"

"Yeah. I can't wait. I think you and Noel will do another great show." Emily said as she tried to convince Casey and herself that she wanted to be there. She felt horrible that she was faking most of her enthusiasm, but Derek convinced her to try to be friends with Casey again.

"Great! Oh, and Derek…good luck with your game tonight…" she said trying her best to be nice. She figured she would have to try to get along with Derek since he's been closer to Emily. She talked to Paul, and he said that there was a possibility that Derek was being close to her because he was actually falling for her. At least that would be stop her from being jealous of her friendship to Derek. For the past few days, Emily had been hanging out with Derek. Even though, Casey was there with them, Emily was talking to Derek more. Casey refused to be jealous, but it was hard to just watch her best friend being so friendly to Derek especially when she knew Derek was just doing that to bug her. She knew that Emily wasn't able to see past her crush on him, and she tried to warn her if he hurt her. "So, I'll see you this afternoon, Emily?"

"Yeah. You know you have to show me your costume."

"Okay." Casey said as the bell rang. "See you later."

"See you." Emily said as she watched Casey leave. "Good luck on your game tonight, Derek." she said as she wave goodbye to him before going to her class.

"Thanks. See you, Emily." he said giving her a nod.

After the last class of the day, Emily was walking down the hall towards the theater when suddenly she was grabbed from behind and dragged into the janitor's closet. She fought and screamed, but it was muffled by a hand. She got free and started to attack.

"Emily! Emily, it's me! Derek!" her attacker said and she stopped once she knew it was him. She glared at him and slapped him hard across the face. "Ow!"

"What the hell was that?! You scared the shit out of me! I thought you were on the bus leaving for you game!" she said as she hit his shoulder. She was very angry and scared and she wanted to tear his head off…if it wasn't so damn cute.

"I was just testing you to see if you could handle yourself if he comes at you. I don't know what it was about the way he was staring at you today, but he looks like he was going to do something.. Look, I don't have much time until we leave, but I wanted to warn you. And by the way you were attacking me it seems like you can handle yourself pretty fine." he said grabbing his stinging cheek and his arm.

"You're lucky I didn't tear your eyes out. I kicked your ass good, didn't I?"

"No, you didn't…okay, yes you did. You're so lucky you're a girl…and that I have a hockey game tonight." he said laughing. "But…I'm glad you know how to defend yourself."

"Thanks. Now go before you're late for the bus. And…good luck tonight." she said as she hugged him, then she pulled away. "Sorry…" she said, silently, cursing herself for that. She had to get a grip on her heart or she would set herself up for a fall.

"Don't be sorry." he said remembering the last time he said that…the night she kissed him. He wanted her to kiss him again, but he decided to push that out of his mind and just be her friend. "Try not to get bored watching Casey frolicking around on stage with twinkle toes Noel."

"I'll try. I swear, she's going to get angry with me if I keep hangout out with you. Now, go. For real." she said as she playfully shoved him out of the closet.

"Okay. See ya!" he said as they left. She listened to Derek and was cautious. She, briefly, went to the teacher's parking lot and saw that Brandon's car was gone. She relaxed and went inside but she tensed up as she was walking towards his classroom. Her heart was racing and it was beating so loud. It felt as if a drum was living inside her body. It stopped once she saw that the lights were off in his room and it was empty. She walked to the theater and saw Casey on stage and she sat down in one of the seats on the floor.

About an hour into the rehearsal, Emily was feeling bored. She loved Casey, but she felt like an outsider sitting and watching all the theater kids in their click. Though, Casey didn't mean to do it, she was ignoring her. She kind of felt bad because she had been doing the same thing to Casey every time she hung out with Derek. She had promised herself that she wouldn't ignore Casey anymore because she really did miss having a girl for a friend.

"So, what do you think?" Casey said as she went up to her while everyone was taking a five minute break. She saw that Emily was hesitating. "you don't like it, do you? I'm sorry. I just thought you would like to sit in a watch."

"No, it's not that. I like it, really. I'm just not a fan of sitting and watching people do the same scene about five times, but it's good. I think I'm going to find a restroom. But, you're doing great. There's loads of chemistry with you and Noel. You think he still has that crush on you?" Emily said as she smirked knowing that Casey would blush.

"I don't know…maybe. He's starting to act like a love-sick puppy. It's sorta annoying."

"Really…" she said knowing that Casey was liking it. "Well, I'm going to go and I'll be right back. I'll slip in quietly to see the rest of rehearsal and break a leg."

"Okay, Em." Casey said as she went back to the stage.

Emily left the theater and walked down the hall wondering how well Derek was playing. She hoped she didn't hurt him too much when he surprised her. At least, not bad enough to hurt his playing. She reached the restroom and went inside. When she was done, she went to the sink and washed her hands. She was leaving, but was halted when she saw Brandon standing there.


	11. Chapter 10

"What are you doing here?" Emily said with a shaky voice. She was frightened. She hadn't been alone with him since that night he raped her and her heart was pounding.

"Emily, what are you doing in here smoking?" he said in a stern voice and she was confused but still frightened. She wished it was Derek…like earlier…playing a joke.

"I'm not smoking…" she said as she saw him close the door and stand in front of it. She saw him pull out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She watched him cautiously as he pulled out a cigarette from the pack, lit it, and took a puff off of it. He blew smoke into the air.

"You are, now…" he said wearing a sick grin. "let's just say that this is my reason for being in here. I smelled cigarette smoke and discovered a student lighting up. The perfect cover. Now, didn't I ask you to keep what happened between us a secret?" he said pleasantly as he was coming dangerously close to her. She backed up until she hit the opposite wall.

"I didn't tell…" she said hopelessly knowing that he knew she was lying.

"Liar…" he said walking towards her again. "You think I don't fucking notice your little boyfriend's glares. Derek really should learn to not be so obvious." he was directly in front of her holding the cigarette. He took another drag from the cigarette and held in the smoke. Suddenly, he leaned down and kissed her blowing the smoke into her mouth causing her to cough and gag when he pulled away. "Fuck, Emily, I've missed your lips…" he said as he threw the cigarette to the ground and grabbed her kissing her neck.

"Let go of me!" she said as she tried to fight him off. "Get away from me, asshole!" she said and he slapped her hard. She almost fell down, but he grabbed her and stared, fiercely, into her eyes. She could have sworn she could see fire in his dark, brown eyes.

"You're forgetting that you're talking to a teacher! Now, be a good girl…" he said as he started touching her. "and kiss your lover back."

"You're not my lover! You raped me!" she said and he slapped her again.

"I made love to you. Apparently, you prefer little boys instead of men. You've forgotten how good it felt to be with me. You've forgotten about me, but I didn't forget you."

"Really? I thought you would have moved on to find a new girl to rape…" she said not realizing how she had become so sarcastic. Hanging out with Derek really changed her.

"I could never forget you. You're special. Everything about you drives me crazy. Your hair…" he said as he tugged on her puffy, curls and she winced. "Your lips…" he touched her lips and she trembled. "Those delicious breasts…" he moaned as he squeezed her right breast. "You are the only girl I want to make love to."

"That wasn't making love…you raped me. Then, you kept raping me with your mind. Alluding to that night…staring at me in class."

"I just wanted to remind you of the special thing between us. I will never forget that night. In fact, I lie in bed at night fantasizing about you…"

"You're sick…I'm a 17 year old girl and you're jerking off thinking about me."

"Like your dear Derek doesn't do the same thing…I bet since you gave it up to him, he's been doing nothing but that thinking about you."

"He's not like that and I've never slept with Derek. We're friends."

"Why? He wasn't man enough for you?" he said as he chuckled, darkly. "Face it, you want me. You were just afraid of your feelings. Now…" he said as he undid her jeans and she was wondering how his hands got there. "Make love to me right here, right now."

"Fuck you!" she said as tried to push him off, but he pinned her, face first, against the wall. She, silently, cried as he reached in front of her and finished undoing her jeans. She couldn't believe she was going to get raped again.

"I don't think you want say that. You know what people say, 'be careful of what you wish for…'" he said into her ear. She tried to squirm away but that was only turning him on. She could tell because she could feel his cock growing harder and harder, and she panicked. "I want to fuck you so bad right now. I want to feel myself inside of you. Tell me…do you think Derek fantasizes about you the way I do? Do you think he imagines you up against a wall trembling against him with fear and pleasure?"

"It's fear and rage. I'm not feeling pleasure right now…"

"You will…" he said but was interrupted by Emily's phone going off telling her that she got a text from Casey. She was frozen and she wanted to grab her phone and leave, but she couldn't move. "We'll continue this later. I'll be thinking of you tonight." he said as he gave her one last brutal kiss before he left. She let out a breathe she didn't realize she had held, and sank down to the floor and cried. She wanted to die, and she wished that Derek was there. He would have been there for her, he would have killed Brandon.

"Emily?!" she heard Casey called her. She sounded worried. Emily managed to pulled herself off the floor and walk out to door avoiding the mirrors as she left.

"I'm here. Sorry, I was just thinking." she said hoping that would be a good explanation for her tears. Maybe Casey would leave her alone after this and think no more of her tears.

"Do you want to talk about it? You don't have to if you don't want to…"

"I don't really want to talk about it. I'm sorry, but I just…"

"I understand, Emily. I just hope you're okay."

"How was the play? Did Noel try to kiss you for real again?" Emily said trying to take the focus off of her. She did like that Casey was concerned about her.

"Only like four times. Ugh, I thought he would get the message by now, but he's so in love with me. Although, he is cute in that sensitive way…"

"Casey…you should just give him a chance. I mean, you and Sam are pretty much done. So are you and Max. This thing with Truman isn't happening because you won't admit that you have a huge crush on him. And Noel is your kind of guy."

"I know, I know. I should just take that plunge and ask Truman out…I mean, Noel!"

"You really do like Truman, don't you?"

"No…yes. Okay, so I like him, but that doesn't stop him from being the biggest jerk on earth. I mean, he's such a chauvinist pig and he thinks every girl is going to be fooled by him."

"Well, there are bigger jerks in the world…" Emily trailed off trying to forget about what just happened in the girl's restroom. If Casey knew about that, she would reconsider calling Truman a jerk. If everyone knew about what Brandon did to her, they would hate him.

"Oh, yeah…there are bigger jerks out there. Like Derek."

"Don't say that!" she snapped and Casey looked at her as if she had gone crazy. "Derek is one of the greatest guys I know so don't say that shit about him."

"Okay…I'm sorry, Em." Casey said not realizing how much Emily liked him or how close they had gotten. Derek had said the same thing and reacted the same way when Casey made a harmless joke about Emily learning hockey. Maybe her suspicions were true. Maybe they were dating and she didn't about it. She didn't like it, but she would be as supportive as possible.

"I'm sorry for snapping. Let's get out of here." Emily said feeling like shit for snapping.


	12. Chapter 11

That same night Emily sent Derek a text asking him to call her, and she hoped that it wasn't too late or he was too tired after the game. She needed to talk to Derek, because she knew he would make her feel better. Throughout the entire car ride with Casey, Emily couldn't bring herself to tell her. She knew she should've because Casey was worried about her, but she felt as if Casey wouldn't understand. For some strange reason, she felt that Derek would. She didn't know why because he wasn't such an emotional guy. He always cringe at the thought of talking about his, or anyone else's, feelings. Maybe he really care about her. Kind of like the way he cared about Marti. Great, she was like his little sister…

Suddenly, her phone rang and she answered it after only one ring.

"Hello." she said trying to sound cool to no freak Derek out.

"What's up?" Derek said wanting to seem just as cool about this. He knew something happened while he was away, and he swore he would kill that raping bastard.

"He…I was in the girl's restroom and when I was leaving…he was there. He made it seem as if I was smoking in there and he had busted me. He did that to cover up his true intentions to anyone coming in there…"

"Did that fucker touch you?! I should've fucking been there…"

"He didn't rape me. Just kissed me and touched me. Derek, I'm scared. He knows that you know. What if he does something to you?"

"Then, it's police time." Derek simply said.

"No…" she said knowing that Derek was getting angry with her choice. She hated that she was so afraid to go to the police, and she would be just as angry as Derek was if she was talking to a girl acting like her after her rape.

"Emily, what the fuck is your problem?! How could you just let this asshole get away with it? Are you just going to let him do this to another girl?"

"He's not going to do this to another girl. He said I'm the only he's…made love to. I really think he's obsessed with me. At least he won't hurt another girl."

"And that's supposed to make this shit right?!"

"I'm not saying that. Don't put words into my mouth, Derek."

"Then, what the fuck am I supposed to think?"

"I don't know! Look, I just want to forget about this. That's all I want. You don't even know…you can't even imagine what it's been like for me. Do you know that I have become a such a wreck since it happened? I just want to forget."

"Then fucking forget it!"

"Why do you fucking care?!"

"I don't know…I mean, you're pretty cool and I've never had a friend like you before."

"You mean you never had a girl for a friend without her being your girlfriend…" she said sounding very disappointed. She knew it was a long shot, but she wanted him to like her enough to become his girlfriend. She needed him, and she loved him.

"Em…" he said not really knowing what to say. He wanted to tell her that he wanted her, but he knew he couldn't fully commit himself to her and, after what happened to her, he didn't want to hurt her even more than she had been hurt.

"Just forget it. I understand. So, were you still thinking of sneaking out to go to that party?" she asked wanting to change the subject.

"No. Actually, I was thinking of hanging out with you. Only if you don't want to go the party. And, if you want to go, that's cool."

"I think I would love to hang out with you. I don't think I'm ready for parties yet anyway. What do you want to do, then?"

"I don't know. I was hoping you would come up with something."

"Well…" she said trying to think of something. She knew it would be a long shot to ask him to go to the mall, and she knew she couldn't really think of anything she could do with a guy friend that she doesn't do with Casey.

"What do you think about watching a movie at my place?"

"I don't know…I think I'm starting to get on your family's nerves. I mean, I'm always there. Pretty soon people are going to say that you guys adopted me." she joked.

"Yeah…but, I like hanging out with you. And Casey is starting to get suspicious." Derek said as he knew Emily would catch on that he liked her. He hated that he didn't tell her because, now he really did want her to be his girlfriend. It had been a while since Sally moved away, and he never thought he would feel that way about a girl again.

"You're right. After it happened, Casey noticed that I was crying. She wouldn't stop staring at me in the car. I could have sworn she was sniffing me. She probably smelled the smoke on me. So, anyway, we could watch a movie."

"No chick flicks. I don't care if I'm going to be outnumbered by you and Casey. I don't do that type of movie for a reason. No chicks flicks…ever."

"Okay, okay…" Emily said as she laughed at how Derek still refused to show that he has feelings. "What about a good zombie movie? Ooh, or vampires?"

"I can do that. Are you sure you and Casey and handle it?"

"I'm not so sure about Casey, but I know that I can handle it. I think you're starting to rub off on me." she said laughing.

"What's rubbing off on you?" Derek said feeling a little curious as to how much he was influencing his new friend. Though, he didn't want to be just her friend, but he was foolish enough to tell her that he wanted to be just her friend. He wondered how she would feel if he told her that he really liked her.

"Hmm…I'm more sarcastic these days. I think I've become a bit of a slacker. I like hockey, now. There's a lot of things that's different about thanks to you. Don't worry it's all good things." she said making sure that Derek didn't feel like a bad influence.

"I never thought I would ever hear that I'm a good influence."

"Yeah…if only you could teach me how to face Brandon without turning into a complete coward. I'm sorry…I shouldn't have said that. Kind of killed the buzz with that one…"

"No, you didn't. You need to talk about it. Get it all out."

"Derek, are you feeling okay?" Emily asked knowing that Derek would never say anything remotely close to that. Maybe she was rubbing off on him.

"Okay, don't laugh, but I kind of…read one of Nora's self help books. I wanted to do more to help you out, so I skimmed through it. Don't tell anyone about that."

"I won't tell. Thanks for wanting to help me. You have no idea how much you've helped me." she said knowing that he would never know how much he meant to her.

"Don't mention it. Well, I better get off. The guys are going out to celebrate the win. See you when I get back for the movie."

"See you, Derek and have fun tonight. Goodbye."


	13. Chapter 12

Derek, Casey, and Emily sat in the living room in front of the TV watching _Kill Bill: Vol. 1_. Casey didn't understand why Emily would choose such a violent movie, but she watched it with them. It really wasn't that bad…the violence was a bit too cartoony for her and the animated part was a little redundant for her. She was hoping that they didn't want to watch the second movie, but when she saw Emily reach for the DVD, she had to speak up.

"Em, do we really have to see the second one? How about a nice romantic comedy. I know it'll just be you and me watching it, but…"

"Well, I'm not really in the mood for a romantic comedy." Emily said thinking about how Kill Bill suited her mood better because she swore she would love to slice Brandon up good with a Samurai sword. At first, she wasn't this violent, she was too frightened to be angry. But the night he trapped her in the ladies' room, she grew more and more enraged. She didn't know where the sudden rage came from or when, but she was feeling it.

"I know, but this isn't really my type of movie and…never mind. We can watch whatever you want." she said smiling not wanting to lose her friend to Derek again. She was hoping that the romantic comedy would scare him off, but he just sat there.

"Well…we can watch another movie if you want. The second one isn't' as great anyway. What do you want to watch?"

"_The Notebook_. I love that movie and Ryan Gosling…oh my god."

"Okay, we can watch that. Sorry, Derek…" she said watching his disgusted face.

"It's okay…I think I can stomach this one." he said and they looked at him in shock. "What?" he said as he saw their looks and Casey spoke.

"Derek, you hate this type of movie!"

"I know, but Rachel McAdams is so hot. I think it's worth the torture."

"But…It's going to be a tear jerker…we'll be crying."

"I know…" he said and Emily could tell that Casey was getting frustrated.

"Derek, what are you doing?!" she said with a stern look on her face.

"Nothing, space case." he said shrugging and Emily giggled at Casey's reaction.

"Emily?!" Casey said with a shocked tone.

"I'm sorry…" Emily said trying to stifle her laugh.

"What is going on with you two? Are you two…dating?" Casey said hesitatingly and Emily looked at Derek with a look of panic. She knew she would have to tell Casey sooner or later, but she wasn't ready to tell her. However, she didn't want to say she was dating him, and she didn't want to tell Casey that he was her new best friend. She was stuck as she searched for an answer, but Derek stood up and walked to Emily. She looked at him with confusion as she stood beside her wrapping his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Yeah, space case…we're dating." he said smoothly and Emily looked up at him with shock and anger. How dare he taught her true dream with this?

"I knew it…" Casey simply said as she nodded as if it confirmed her suspicions.

"Wait, Case, this isn't…" Emily said but was interrupted by Derek speaking.

"This isn't how we wanted to tell you."

"Well, I'm glad you told me. I kind of knew it all along, but…congrats, Emily."

"You're not mad or anything?" Emily asked in disbelief that Casey would be okay with her and Derek's fake relationship.

"I mean, sure, I don't like it. But, you're my best friend, and if there's something good about Derek that you see that I can't…then I trust you. But, Derek, if you hurt her…"

"I won't hurt her!" he snapped and Emily shot him a look.

"Casey, do you mind if I talk to Derek alone, please."

"Go ahead. Do you want me to start the movie without you?"

"Sure…" Emily said as she pulled Derek upstairs to his room. "What the hell was that?!"

"I had to do it. She was asking too many questions, and when she said that she thought we were dating, I ran with it to keep her from finding out the other thing."

"I know, but did you have to say we were dating?! You know how she is. Now, she'll start asking questions about that. What do we say, then, huh?"

"Oh, didn't think about that." he said hating that he jumped at the opportunity to say he was Emily's boyfriend. "Well, we'll just go with it. Improvise if she asks anything."

"We can't just go with it. Derek…I don't think I feel comfortable with this. I mean…" she said trying to hide that fact that she wanted it to be real. "We're friends…" she said hiding her disappointed tone. However, Derek felt crushed that she said that they were just friends. He wanted to be more, but he just had to tell her that he wanted to be…just friends. He felt like an idiot, but he shrugged it off and pretended that it didn't hurt him.

"See, that what makes it easier to pretend. We're practically closer than we've been before, so it looks like we're dating. Just relax, we're still friends, right?"

"Right…" she trailed off as she faked a smile. Why did he have to be so cool with the idea of them pretending to date each other?

"We should get back down there before she comes up."

"Okay. Are you sure you can handle and movie like that? It's a tear jerker…and we'd probably gush, endlessly about how hot Ryan Gosling is." Emily teased.

"Like I said, Rachel McAdams is hot. I think I can handle it. I'm just surprised Casey lasted that long with _Kill Bill_. Why did you want to see that movie, anyway. I mean, I'm not saying you're super girly or anything, but…"

"Yeah…it is an odd choice for me, I guess. I don't know…I guess I was in the mood for something violent ever since…Brandon trapped me that night."

"I really fucking hate him…" Derek said trying to shake the image of Emily slicing him up with a sword. Though, he found it to be a little hot, he also thought it was disturbing that, sweet-faced, Emily would be capable of killing a man like that. Still, he would give anything to see him dead for what he did to Emily.

"Yeah, I know…Let's go." she said as she was walking out of his room, but he stopped her and grabbed her hand. "What are you doing?"

"Holding you hand." he said as if it should be obvious to her.

"I know. Why are you holding my hand?"

"We have to make it look like we're a couple. So, we have to do couple things. Just don't get too mushy with that stuff, though." he said shuddering at the gooey lovey dovey stuff Casey and Sam used to do around him.

"I promise, I won't do that. I hate that shit, too, you know." she said laughing as she walked downstairs and Casey looked at their hands and just simply smiled. This was going to take her longer than she thought to get over the shock of it all. Derek was right, Emily thought. It did make them look like a couple. Maybe that would distract Casey long enough. Emily knew she would have to tell her, but she liked pretending to Derek's girlfriend better.


	14. Chapter 13

Emily couldn't believe that her dream was actually coming true…well, sort of. Pretending to be his girlfriend was better than not being close to him at all. They had made a mutual agreement to only pretend to be a couple whenever Casey was around. To everyone else it didn't matter because it wasn't a complete shock if Derek was dating a new girl, and not many people knew about her obsession with him, so it didn't matter if people thought they were dating or not.

"Emily…" Derek said as he gripped her hand and she looked confused. "Casey's coming." he said seeing her confusion.

"Hi…guys." Casey said still struggling with the idea of them dating. It wasn't her favorite thing in the world to see, but if Derek made Emily happy, she would try her best to accept them.

"Hey, Case. What's up?" Emily said as she squeezed Derek's hand. She loved that his palm was warm, slightly sweaty, but warm.

"I was just wondering if I could borrow you for a moment. I kind of wanted to talk about girl stuff…" she said knowing that Derek was going to leave immediately. Emily just looked at Derek and he just smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm already gone. See you later, babe." Derek said as he kissed her cheek before he caught up with Ralph. Emily blushed as she watched Derek walk away. He was laying on a little thick, but it didn't bother her one bit.

"Okay," Casey said as she got Emily's attention. "You're going to have to help me. I'm going to the Winter Ball with…Noel."

"Finally, you picked someone." Emily said with relief. "So, it's Noel, huh?" she teased.

"I know, I know. I just decided to give him a chance."

"Truman did something to piss you off, didn't he?"

"Yes, but that's not the point."

"Sure, it isn't…and, all of the sudden, you've been inspired to finally give Noel a chance without it having nothing to do with how angry you are with Truman." Emily said as she chuckled and Casey scoffed jokingly.

"Em, are you suggesting that I'm using Noel to make Truman jealous?" she asked in feigned innocence. Emily was glad that she could joke with her again.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm suggesting."

"Oh, that hurts, Em. You're going to have to make it up to me."

"What do you want?" Emily asked rolling her eyes as she laughed. "I'll do anything except break up with Derek. That's off limits."

"Darn…well, you could walk me to my next class."

"That, I will do." Emily said as she hooked her arm around Casey's as they walked to her next class. "Do you want me to carry you books, too?"

"No, but you could teach Derek how to do that for you. I mean, you are his girlfriend."

"The chivalry thing is for you, not me, remember?"

"Yes, but don't you think it would be nicer if Derek was a little bit more of a gentleman?"

"Yeah, but I think I like him the way he is…" she said blushing thinking about the kiss on her cheek. Boy, did she want it to be real. She wanted him to kiss her for real as his girlfriend. But, she knew he didn't feel the say way, so she pushed that thought out of her mind.

"Oh, I think your cute French teacher is heading our way." Casey said and Emily stared straight ahead at Brandon walking towards them. She looked at him with caution.

"Oh, there you are, Emily." he said in a honey smooth fake surprised voice. "I've been meaning to talk to you. I've found some new information about studying abroad. I know it's the lunch period, but I would really like to go over the details with you. Do you mind? It won't take long." he said addressing Casey and she shook her head no. Emily wished she had said yes, because she didn't want to be alone with Brandon again.

"It's not a problem, Mr. Carr. Em, I'll meet you in the cafeteria when you're finished, right?" Casey said as Emily wore a look on her face she couldn't figure out.

"Right…" Emily trailed off wanting to kill Brandon as he put his hand on her back and led her to the classroom. She wanted to pull away from him and run to Derek because she didn't want to be alone with him. She walked inside and felt her heart beat erratically as he closed the door. He turned around to her and looked at her with a lust-filled look.

"Emily, Emily, Emily…" Brandon trailed off as he walked closer to her. "I see you and Derek had made it official now…Congrats." he said mockingly.

"What do you want?" she asked with a shaky voice as he stood directly in front of her. His eyes penetrated her with a fierce stare as he moved closer to her. Her back was against the wall as he hovered over her.

"What do you think I want? I want you, Emily. I always have and always will want you." he said as he bent down to her ear. His warm breath in her ear and his hands on her hips made her stomach turn. "Emily…why are you so nervous?" he said with a sick smirk. Emily stood there frozen wondering where all her rage and anger and need to slice him up went. The day before, she felt as if she could tear his head off, but now…she was frozen with fear.

"Someone's going to catch you…" she said and he just laughed.

"Emily, look around this classroom. There aren't any windows in this room." he said as he pressed his body closer to hers. "The small window on the door is covered up." he moved his kiss down to her neck as he slid one hand up to her breasts. "And…this is the lunch period. No one is going to walk in on us. We have a lot a time to make love…"

"You…are a demented, twisted fuck. We did not make love. You. Raped. Me." she said as she glared into his eyes feeling that rage come back to her.

"Don't call me a twisted fuck, Emily!" he said with eyes full of anger as his grip on her hip tightened, then he relaxed and smiled a sick smile.

"That's what you are…" she said boldly and she almost smiled because she was feeling the urge to slap him. That probably wouldn't be a good idea, but it was the best defense she had.

"Now, Emily, would I be the kind of guy that would be a twisted fuck? I mean, it's not like I severely beat up your new boyfriend." he said with a twisted grin.

"What did you do to Derek?!" Emily asked and Brandon only chuckled. "Answer me! Where is he?! What have you done with him?!"

"Nothing…yet. Oh, Emily…I didn't know you cared about him that much. Maybe, I should do something to him to provoke a reaction from you. You know what they say, 'angry sex is always the best sex.' Nothing like a good grudge fuck you make you feel better." he said as he kissed her and she, finally, had enough rage and strength to fight back. She brought her knee up to his crotch and ran towards the door as he yelped out in pain. "You bitch! You're going to regret doing that." he said as Emily paused at the door.

"What are you going to do? Threaten me some more. I'm not afraid of you anymore."

"You know, your friend, Casey, is pretty hot…She's not my type, but…she'll do."

"You stay away from her! Don't you fucking dare go near her or me or Derek!"


	15. Chapter 14

Emily ran into Derek's arms in the hallway and he looked at her with caution. He was worried because she looked like she had seen a ghost.

"Was it Brandon?" Derek said knowing exactly why she was upset.

"Yes. He tried to attack me again, but I fought him off. Derek…he threatened you and…Casey. I'm scared. He's going to hurt you…he's going to hurt Casey…He won't stop until I give into him. He's delusional. He doesn't even think he raped me."

"Em, you can't hide this secret anymore. It's getting serious."

"I know…I'm going to tell someone. Just…let me tell Casey first." she said as she looked at Derek and she saw his face. His eyes were wide as the looked past her. She, slowly, turned around to see Casey standing behind her.

"What do you have to tell me, Emily?" Casey asked with a worried face. Emily knew that there was no use in lying. The time was now to tell Casey her secret.

"I…a month ago…on Halloween night…I was…raped." she said feeling the tears build up in her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall. She didn't want to cry, she wasn't going to allow herself to shed another tear over it. She wanted to move on.

"Oh my god, Em! Who did it?! Tell me!" Casey said as she pulled her to the stairs and sat down. Emily sat down beside her and Derek was standing in front of them.

"It was…Brandon…Mr. Carr…" she said pausing to let the news sink into Casey's brain. For some reason, Emily was afraid that she wouldn't believe her because she had just seen her go off with him earlier and she might have thought that they were having an affair. "He showed up at my door to bring work I missed since I was sick. I was confused as to why he would bring the work. He said it himself that a student was supposed to bring it, but he said he figured we'd go over the French work that I missed so I wouldn't be behind in his class."

"Oh, Em…" Casey said as she grabbed her hand. "You don't have to talk about this."

"No, I have to. You've got to know what happened and why I've been keeping this from you. Anyway, we started talking about studying abroad. He was telling about his time in France and then that led to an uncomfortable moment. He started hitting on me, and told me that he had a crush on me. I told him that he was making me uncomfortable and I asked him to leave. He wouldn't leave and he got angry and called me a tease. He…"

"You don't have to finish. I get it. Em, I'm so sorry. I should've been with you that night. What happened a few minutes ago? God, I shouldn't have let you go with him. If I would've known. Did he try…it again?"

"Yeah, but I fought him off. He threatened to come after Derek…and you."

"Me?! Em, we have to go to the police. Or, maybe, we should wait before we go to the police. You have to tell somebody. You can talk to Paul, first, if you want. He'll help you."

"Casey…there's something else…" Emily said not wanting to say it because it would end her whole charade with Derek. Oh well, it was good while it lasted. "Derek and I aren't really dating." she said and Derek shot her a look she couldn't read.

"You're not really dating? I don't understand…" she said looking at Derek.

"Case…the night Emily had that nightmare…she told me. I had to drag it out of her, and she didn't even want to tell me. Anyway, to keep you or anyone from finding out we pretended to date." Derek said hating that they were only pretending. He really wanted to be her boyfriend. "She was going to tell you that day we told you we were dating, but I stopped her and…"

"Casey," Emily said interrupting him. "I didn't want to tell Derek before I told you. It just happened. I just…needed to tell someone that wasn't you. Don't hate me…I just couldn't tell you. I didn't know what you would think of me if you knew."

"I don't hate you, Emily. I hate him for what he did to you. It's not your fault."

"I know. I just feel like a loser for not telling you. You're my best friend, Casey."

"That's true, but if you didn't feel comfortable telling me…I understand. There's a lot of stuff I don't tell you. That's why I talk to Paul."

"Do you think I could tell him without him going to the police or getting Brandon fired. It's not like I like the idea of him still teaching…it's just…I know people would hate me if I caused their favorite teacher to get fired. I don't think I could take that ridicule."

"Well, fuck what they think." Casey said and Emily looked at her with a shocked expression. Normally, she wouldn't curse and if she did she would whisper the word or words she didn't want others to hear her say. "You were raped, Em. If people can't see that because they'd lose their cool, laid-back, slacker of a teacher, then…they are jerks."

"She's right, Em." Derek said before she developed a look on his face that made Emily laugh. "God, I can't believe I agreed with Casey…"

"Honestly, Derek…" Casey said. "There are more important things to worry about than you simply agreeing with me."

"I know that. You think I like that this monster is fucking taunting her every chance he gets?! This sick bastard won't stop and…"

"Okay, I'm sorry." Casey said as she looked at him. She realized that he really did like her. Oh, that would be great news for Emily if she found out. As much as she hated to see them together, she knew that if both had the same feelings for each other, they would be happy.

"Guys, please don't argue now. Let's just figure out what to do next."

"I know exactly what to do next…" Casey said as she pulled Emily up from the stairs and grabbed her hand. She had dragged her to Paul's office.

"Casey, no…I didn't want to talk to him today…"

"Em, you've told me. Now, it's time to tell someone else. Someone that will help you. I know you don't want to be the reason Brandon gets fired, but he needs to be fired. It's not right for him to terrorize you into staying silent."

"Casey…it was already too painful telling you. What if he doesn't believe me?"

"He'll believe you. I believed you. It's time to stop being afraid of Brandon."

"I'm not afraid of him…it's just…it's been almost a month since the rape. He used a condom…there's no proof that he raped me, and I didn't tell anyone. What is it going to look like if I tell someone? People are going to think I lied and made it up…"

"I know you didn't, Derek knows you didn't, and I know Paul won't think you're lying. He takes things like that pretty seriously. It doesn't matter that it was almost a month ago. It happened and he has kept you silent. It's time to speak up…"

"Okay, okay…I'll talk to him…" Emily said getting a little annoyed with Casey's lecture.

"Great!" she said as she knocked on Paul's door. They walked in and Emily stood awkwardly beside Casey. She wanted to turn around, but she knew Casey wouldn't let her.

"Hello, Casey. What's up?" Paul said as he eyed Emily in wonder.

"Emily has something to tell you…" she said as she nudged Emily forward.

"Go on…" Paul said as he gestured for her to sit down.

"About a month ago…I was…attacked. Raped…by a…teacher. Mr. Carr…"


	16. Chapter 15

Emily sat in the police station with her parents, Casey, and Derek. The after she told Paul, he told the principle and he called the police. Her parents were also called and she hated that the school did that. She didn't want to tell them. The police had arrested him in the middle of the hallway creating a scene she was afraid would happen. Her mother had attacked him yelling and screaming as she clawed at his face. She didn't expect it to go that far, but she was sort of glad she did. Despite her fears of people hating her for getting their favorite teacher fired, she was glad she told the truth. People, now, knew he was a rapist.

"Emily Davis. I'm Detective Horner." said a woman with dark skin and dreadlocks. "I need to speak with you and your parents. Follow me." she said with a look on her face.

"Okay, just give a minute, okay?" she said as she turned to Derek and Casey. "Thank you. I wouldn't have been able to tell anyone if it weren't for the both of you." she said as she hugged them both, but she hugged Derek longer. She was going to miss pretending to be his girlfriend. Why do all good things had to come to an end?

"Ms. Davis." said the detective and Emily followed her parents and the detective into a small interrogation room. The principle was there with his lawyer, and Emily was confused.

"What's going on?" she asked as she looked at Detective Horner."

"I regret to tell you that we couldn't hold Brandon Carr on any rape charges."

"What?!" Emily said as she almost fell to the floor.

"What do you mean you can't hold him?!" her mother shouted. "That sick fucking bastard raped my daughter and you're going to let him get away with it?!"

"But…he raped me…" she said feeling defeated.

"I believe he raped you, but…unfortunately, we can't prove the rape. If it happened over a month ago, and you stated in your report that he used a condom, there's no proof of DNA. We couldn't prove the case during the time limit we could hold him, so we had to release him. I'm sorry." Detective Horner said with a sympathetic face, and Emily felt guilty. She felt stupid for keeping it a secret so long, and she didn't think of the police not being able to prove the case.

"Oh, that's bullshit!" Mrs. Davis shouted.

"Mrs. Davis, please calm down. We'll find another way we can nail him."

"How?! He'll probably get away with that, too."

"Why is Principal Lassiter here?" Emily asked as she stared at him.

"Well," Detective Horner began, "He is here to inform you that…well, he'll tell you."

"I'm here to tell you to that even though the he's not charged with anything, we've decided to let him go on the grounds of an inappropriate relationship with a student."

"You think what he did to my daughter was consensual?!" her mother shouted. "That twisted fuck raped my daughter…in my house!"

"Honey, please…" Mr. Davis said as he tried to calm down his wife. Emily sat there wondering how this might have looked if she had told earlier. Derek was right, she should have told. Now, her situation was distorted to make it look like she slept with him. She wondered how everyone else saw her. They were probably upset with her for getting their favorite teacher fired. She was starting to wonder if anyone thought she was raped at all.

"I didn't say that, Mrs. Davis, and I wasn't suggesting that your daughter wanted…well, you know. I just saying that even if he hadn't assaulted her he crossed a line with a student. I should've done something earlier, but one always ignore initial signs. I'm sorry Emily."

"What signs are you talking about?" Emily asked her principal.

"When I would stand in the hallway monitoring the students making sure they get to class, I would see him staring off and it didn't look like the was staring at anything in particular. I just thought he was just staring at the students as a whole. You know, not picking out a particular student to watch. It didn't occur to me that he was staring at you, Emily, until, one day, I saw the expression on his face change and his eyes had become more focused. I followed the direction of his eyes and saw that he was staring at you. Something about the way he was staring at you didn't feel right, but ignored it and I feel terrible. I'm sorry, Emily."

"Emily, are you okay?" asked her mom with a concerned look on her face.

"I…I have to use the restroom. I'll be back." she said as she left the interrogation room and saw Casey and Derek rise out of their chairs.

"Em! We heard everything." Casey said as she hugged her. "I'm so sorry. Damn them! They didn't try hard enough."

"No, Casey, they tried. I was just an idiot for not telling as soon as it happened. Now, they can't prove that he raped me because I waited too late to tell. You were right, Derek…I should have told." she said trying to hold in tears and Derek rushed to her side and held her.

"Emily…" he said loving how her name fell from his lips and he knew she loved it, too. "It's okay. Like the detective said, they'll find another way to nail him. At least he won't be teaching anymore. And don't worry about what the others will think. They're assholes if they blame you for him being fired."

"Thanks Derek." she said as she hugged him and felt him hold her tighter. Despite hearing the news of Brandon getting away with being charged for her rape, she was amazed at how being in Derek's arms made her feel safe. She, suddenly, felt a feeling a sadness wash over her knowing that they weren't pretending to date anymore.

"Hey, no problem. Maybe you should get back in there and try to calm down your mom. I think I can see her head swelling up about to explode." he said with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah…I think I should. You guys can go if you want. You don't have to stay."

"No, Emily," Casey said as she laid a hand on her shoulder. "We want to stay. I have a feeling you're going to need us in case you need to escape another of your mom's tirades…"

"True…Well, I should get back there. Thanks for staying here for me. You two a such great friends." Emily said as she hugged them. She gave them a small smile as she turned around to leave and was almost to the door of the interrogation room when she heard Derek call her name. She turned around to see him a few feet away from her.

"I know this is a bad time, but I was wondering if you still wanted to go to the Winter Ball. It's coming up this weekend, and I wasn't sure if you still wanted to go."

"You still want to go…as my date?" she asked not believing that he still wanted to go.

"Yeah. I mean…yeah." he said trying to hide how much he really wanted to still go to the Winter Ball with her. Right now, she needed a friend, and he wanted to be that friend. If they happen to become more than friends, then that's a bonus he would love.

"Okay…we'll go to the Winter Ball. I'll see you in a bit if my mom blows up again." she said as she opened the door to the interrogation room with a smile. Everyone in the room looked at her as if she was crazy probably wondering how she could smile at a time like this.

She knew she looked completely insane, but she couldn't help feeling a little happy knowing that Derek still wanted to go to the Winter Ball with her. She was starting to wonder if he was trying to be more than friends.


	17. Chapter 16

Days after Brandon was fired, Emily returned to school. She was shunned by some people, mostly girls who were angry at her for getting him fired. Some people actually thought she had slept with him, but Derek nor Casey wouldn't allow her to get upset. The week was long, but she was glad it was over.

It was the night of the Winter Ball and Emily was getting ready with Casey. She, Derek, Casey, and Noel were going to go together. She still couldn't believe Derek still wanted to go with her. It almost seemed unreal, and she knew that it was. He still wanted to be friends.

"Em…your dress is so beautiful on you. I can't believe you lucked out on that dress is perfect." Casey said as she hugged her.

"Case…you're crushing me." Emily said as she laughed.

"Sorry." Casey said as she backed up. "So, I called Derek. He said he'll be over here with Noel in a bit. You deserve this night, Em. I mean, you'd think all those girls would have your back, but they were too concerned with having the hot teacher. It's sickening that they can overlook the fact that he…well, you know."

"The fact that he raped me…" Emily said feeling a little joy wash over her as she was, now, able to say it. "It's okay. I know you guys have my back and I know you believe me. Fuck what they think. I know the truth. But, anyway…you look amazing."

"Thank you…and thank you for spotting this dress for me. You have a great eye for these things." Casey said as she stared at herself in the mirror.

"Casey…Did Derek ever tell you why he was still going with me to the Winter Ball?"

"No. Why?" she asked as she turned around from the mirror and stared at Emily. "Em." she said in a soft tone. "He's not doing this out of pity. I hope you know that."

"I know…it's just…" she trailed off not wanting to think that was she reason he still wanted to go with her. She was still hoping that he wanted to date her.

"Derek is an immature jerk, but he would never do this out of pity. He's your friend and he wouldn't hurt you like that, believe it or not."

"I believe you, and I believe he's not doing this because he feels sorry for me." she said before hearing her doorbell ring. Her father answered the door as she and Casey went downstairs and saw Noel and Derek waiting for them. Derek was wearing all black. Black pants, shirt, and jacket. "Hey, Derek." she said with a smile.

"Whoa, Emily, you look amazing." he said as they stood at the foot of the stairs.

"Thanks. You look great." she said hating how cheesy that sounded, but she was happy to be cheesy with Derek. She was ignoring the love sick puppy look Casey was getting from Noel because she was pretty much going to talk about it the entire night.

"So, are we ready to go?" Derek asked Emily completely ignoring Noel and Casey.

"Yeah…" she said as they all piled into Derek's car. Emily sat up front with Derek. Derek couldn't stop himself from staring at her. She looked absolutely gorgeous that night…not that she didn't look that way to him before, it just stood out a little more that night. He only wished the two losers in the back weren't with them. They arrived at the campus and walked inside the gym where the Winter Ball was being held.

"You want to dance, Emily?" Derek asked as he took her hand and was about to lead her to the dance floor, but she stopped him. He looked confused as she stood still.

"Derek, you can stop pretending now. Casey knows our relationship was fake and you're a good friend already. You don't have to do this. Even if it's out of pity."

"I want to do this, and it's not out of pity." he said. "Come on…let's have fun. I know you want to dance." he said with a laugh.

"Okay, okay…" she said as he followed him to the dance floor and they started dancing. Emily had to stop herself from laughing too hard at Derek's dance moves. He could dance, but it was a little comical to watch. "I'm sorry…I can't help it. You look like you're having a seizure."

"Ha, ha…" Derek said as she continued laughing. "I'm not that bad. Not as bad as Ralph over there." he said pointing to his friend who was dancing with his girlfriend. She turned around to see him stumbling around trying to dance.

"Okay, you're not that bad." she said laughing and Derek felt happy that he could hear her laughing. He loved her laugh, and he promised himself to do all the can to keep her laughing. The song changed to different song as they continued to dance. "So, what do you think of the new French teacher?" she asked hating how she was making small talk as if it was a real date. She had to remind herself that no matter how much fun she was having, she wasn't his girlfriend.

"You know you don't have to make bullshit small talk."

"Yes, I do. I don't want to have to think about what happened to me or how everyone is staring at me right now…secretly hating me because the new teacher is strict." she said as the music changed to a ballad. She was seeing couples pairing up as she and Derek stood there awkwardly. She was about to leave when he stopped her and pulled her towards him. He placed his hands on her waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She almost died at the fairytale coming true. Sort of. "Well, at least you're a better slow dancer."

"Yeah, it's a skill." he said in a cocky tone as she laughed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't do that. You're starting to treat me like I'm a fragile glass statue again."

"Okay." he said as the song tempo changed. Casey walked by and tapped Emily on her shoulder. "Let me guess…quality girl time."

"Yes, Derek, and if you try to stop me, then…well, you won't be able to stop me." Casey said with a smug smile as she pulled Emily away from her to the food table. "Thanks for coming with me, Em." she said poured herself some punch.

"How bad was Noel annoying you? Or was it Truman?" Emily teased.

"Ugh, he interrupted a nice dance Noel and I were having by jumping in between us and dancing with me. I swear he is infuriating."

"Then why did you blush when you started talking about dancing with him?"

"This," she began as she pointed to her face. "is not the blush of a crush-lorn girl. This is the flush of rage. I mean, how dare he interrupted a dance with me and Noel?"

"Yeah. Noel, the guy you're using as a distraction." Emily said with an arched eyebrow.

"Okay, you're right, but I just can't blow off Noel." Casey said as she sipped from her cup. "So, how's your date going with Derek?" she reluctantly asked.

"It's great." she said casually, but was feeling as if she was going to explode. Casey nodded and didn't say anything more as they both scanned the room. Emily suddenly shrieked.

"What? What's wrong?" Casey asked with a concerned look.

"I thought I saw Brandon…over there." she trailed off staring off at the entrance of the gym, but when she turned her head away for a second and looked back he wasn't there.

"No one is there, Em. Do you want to leave? We can leave if you want."

"No, I don't want to ruin your fun. I'm just a little paranoid right now. I'll be fine." she lied. She was far from fine, but she knew she would feel better if she was with Derek.


	18. Chapter 17

For the rest of the night, Emily felt as if she was going crazy. She could've sworn she saw Brandon lurking near the entrance earlier, but she hadn't seen him at all the rest of the night. She tried to relax, but her paranoia wouldn't go away. She constantly stared at he entrance seeing nothing but the elaborate decorations.

As for Derek, he wanted to tell her that he wanted her as his girlfriend. He had been waiting for the right time to tell her that night, but he couldn't get her full attention. He knew he had to act fast because the ball was almost over.

"Emily, do you want to dance? It's the last dance."

"Sure." she said as he took her hand as they walked to the dance floor. It was another ballad so he placed his hands around her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck for the second time that night. "So, was I a bad date?"

"No, you were good. I, on the other hand, was the perfect date."

"Yeah right. You're the perfect date? Hmm…you didn't offer me your jacket when we left my house and you knew I was cold. You didn't open my car door."

"Hey, that's because you can't open that door from the outside. But, other than that, I've been sort of a gentleman. Don't let that get out. Especially to Casey. She'd never let me live it down." he said as he rolled his eyes and Emily giggled. She was amazed that he was still trying to protect his so called bad boy reputation.

"I won't tell…" she said as she giggled. "Well, you did ask me to dance twice so I guess that redeems you and makes you a good date."

"See, I'm not that bad. And you're not a bad date, Emily."

"Thank you, Derek." she said with a smile.

"No problem." he said casually…perhaps more casual than how he felt inside. He really wanted to tell her, but something in him couldn't. He had never had to tell a girl he basically rejected and told he only liked her as a friend that he really liked her as more.

As the ball ended with the final dance of the Winter Ball king and queen people started leaving. Emily thought it was the best night she had in a long time and was happy to be Derek's date…even if she wasn't his girlfriend.

"We're ready, Derek." Noel said as he and Casey walked up to them. They all left the gym and was walking to the car with Casey suddenly stopped and gasped.

"I don't have my clutch! I lost Nora's clutch! She's going to kill me!"

"Case, are you sure?" Emily said as Casey rapidly nodded.

"I must have set it down somewhere, but I don't know where…"

"Oh, Nora is going to murder you." Derek said as he laughed and Emily tried to hide the slight laugh that was building in her watching Casey's dramatic reaction.

"Derek!" Casey said in her trademark whining voice. "This is serious!"

"Casey calm down." Emily said as she held her shoulders and tried to calm her. "Do you remember the last place you had it?"

"I had it with me when I was at the food table with you…"

"What about the girl's restroom? Did you leave it there?"

"I might have. I don't know. Nora's going to kill me. She's never going to trust me with anything ever again. She's going to think I'm irresponsible."

"Casey! We'll look for your clutch, calm down. Noel, you check the ground out here. Derek, you and Casey check the gym. I'll check the restroom. If I don't see it there, I'll help you guys look for in the gym, okay?"

"Okay…" Casey said as she and Derek went back into the gym with Casey hitting Derek on the arm because he started mocking her. Emily went into the building and hesitated before walking into the girl's restroom. She was still paranoid about seeing Brandon earlier that night was afraid that he was going to be in there waiting for her. She pushed the door open and sighed with relief that the restroom was empty as she went inside and saw Casey's clutch. She rolled her eyes at her best friend's forgetful mind as she grabbed it and walked into the hallway.

"Casey!" she shouted as she was walking towards the gym. "I found your clu…" she said but was stopped by the sight of Brandon standing in front of her wearing a demented look as his eyes pierced her. She dropped the clutch and heard the contents spill out as she shook with fear. She knew she wasn't just seeing things earlier.

"Hello, Emily…" he said with a twisted grin. "You look hot in that dress. Hotter than that cute little cat costume…" he said as he walked closer to her. She backed up until she was against the lockers, and he rushed up to her. He pressed his body against hers, pinning her between himself and the lockers. He moaned as he tried to kiss her neck.

"Get away from me! Derek!" she shouted as she tried to pull away from him.

"Derek!" he mimicked her. "Derek is a little busy right now, and so is Casey."

"What did you do with them, you twisted fuck?!" she said as she fought him.

"Nothing, but what they deserve for splitting us up! Stop fighting me, Emily!" he said as he grabbed her arms and pinned them above her head.

"No! Let go of me! Don't!" she said crying not believing what was happening…again.

"Come on, Emily. You want this, you know it. Stop denying this…" he said as he pulled up the bottom of her dress and started caressing her thigh before moving his hand to the inside of her panties. She sobbed as she felt his fingers bush against her pussy.

"Get away from her!" Derek shouted and Emily looked past Brandon's shoulder. He had beaten Derek up pretty bad, but he was enraged enough to take him on. "If you don't…I'll do whatever you did to her to you!" Derek said as he ran up to Brandon but was stopped by him pulling a gun on him. Emily screamed as she heard Brandon's sick chuckle.

"You know, Derek, it's not wise to rush up to someone with a gun. I knew, you're a dumb hockey player, but I thought you were smarter than that." he said as he grabbed Emily, roughly, by her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"Let me go!" she said hitting his arm around her waist, but that only made him laugh and pull her body tighter against him.

"I would stop that if I were you. If you were a good girl, Emily, you wouldn't fight me because I have a gun pointed at your boyfriend." he said and she stopped fighting.

"You are one twisted fuck to think she gives a damn about you! She doesn't love you! You raped her! I'm her friend and I love her…"

"Aww, isn't that sweet. He loves you." he said in a mocking tone to Emily. "Well, Derek, at least you finally told her before you die, right?" he said as he cocked the gun. Suddenly, the sound of police sirens could be heard as Casey rushed into the hallway.

"I called the police!" she shouted before realizing that he had a gun. "Oh my god…"

"You crazy son of a bitch!" Emily screamed as she stomped on his foot and he dropped the gun. Derek charged at him and knocked him to the ground as they fought. The police came in and pulled them apart before arresting Brandon. "Derek…" Emily said as she hugged him.


	19. Chapter 18

Emily, Derek, Casey, and Noel sat at the police station waiting for their parents. Emily was a little hesitant about calling her mother because she didn't want to send her into another tirade. She knew her father was working hard to calm her down.

"Are you okay, Derek?" Emily said as she, gently, touched his bruised face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay?" he asked as he looked into her eyes. There was a look that wanted to scream yes, but it still held a no.

"No. He almost…you know…again. And he nearly killed you. Look at your face."

"I don't look that bad. I kicked his ass, too." Derek said with a sly smile then winced because the awkward stretching of his jaw hurt. "He had a bruise on his cheek."

"Yeah, well, I didn't notice his face much." she said with a shiver thinking about that derange look in his eyes. She was sure that look in his eyes would haunt her for the rest of her life. She really hoped the charges against him would stick, because she knew she couldn't spend the rest of her life happy knowing he's free. "So, when you said you were going to do whatever he did to me, to him…what did you mean by that?"

"I don't know…I was trying to sound like a badass. I knew I was going to kill him if he…you know." Derek said as he felt his hands clench into fists.

"Derek, it's okay. He's not around and I'm here and I'm fine. He didn't…you know."

"I'm still so fucking angry. I just want to bash his fucking skull in. He's so fucking screwed up and I can't believe that asshole walked the first time."

"I know…" Emily said but stopped when she saw a police officer lead Brandon out of the holding cell down to the jail. Her heart stopped when she saw him looking at her. Suddenly, she felt three pairs of eyes on her as she watched him disappear. "Stop staring at me like that. I'm okay." Emily said as she noticed she wrapped her arms around her. She hadn't realized how cold it had been in the police station. She jumped slightly when she felt Casey's hand on her shoulder.

"Emily, we're not looking at you or treating you any different. It's just…it's okay if you want to cry or if you feel upset. You were face to face with your rapist…"

"Casey, I know you mean well, but I'm tired of people treating me like I'm going to break. I'm strong. I know I am…"

"Yeah, this tough girl…" Derek began jokingly to lighten the mood. "Almost kicked my ass when I surprise attacked her." he said and Emily laughed. There was something in Derek fighting a war of whether he should find that cute or he should be serious. She had such a wonderful laugh and in that moment he decided to tell her. Maybe later, but he would definitely tell her that he wanted to be her boyfriend…that is, if she was ready.

Suddenly, their parents arrived. Mrs. Davis had informed George and Nora the situation and the came with sympathetic faces. The thing Emily was trying to avoid.

"Derek…" Nora said as she inspected his face. "What did that man do to you? Did he hurt Casey? Casey did he hurt you?" she said to her step-son and daughter.

"He didn't hurt me, mom. He pushed me down and covered me with a table cloth. I heard Derek and him fighting. I called the police while he held Emily."

"Emily?" Mrs. Davis said as she held her daughters shoulders. "We're going to make sure this son of a bitch never gets out, okay?"

"I know…" Emily said as she stared at her mother. "Mom, I'm just going to go get some water or something. I'm thirsty."

"Do you want me to come with you?" her mother asked and Emily just wished she would back off a little. She loved her mother, but she just needed to be alone for a moment.

"I'll be okay, mom. Don't worry about it. I'm fine…" Emily said trying to convince herself this. She knew she would be fine, eventually, but now…she wasn't.

"Okay…" her mother said, reluctantly, as Emily walked down the hall and around the corner to the soda machine. Standing there, she realized her feet were killing her. Damn heels…

"Emily…" she heard a timid voice call behind her causing her to jump a little. She turned around to see a man who looked like Brandon…only he was a little older, had longer hair, and lighter brown eyes. She knew, then that it was a relative or a sibling.

"What do you want? Who are you?" Emily said as she backed up slightly, but was stopped when she bumped into the soda machine.

"I'm Hunter…Brandon's brother." he said with a sympathetic, uneasy look on his face.

"If you think I'm going to drop the charges against your brother, you're wrong. He raped me…I couldn't prove that. But, tonight he tried to do it again and he beat up a student and he had a gun. He's going to jail and there's nothing…"

"I'm on your side." he interrupted as Emily looked at him, skeptically. "I know you don't believe me, but I'm on your side. I never knew my brother would be like this. I'm sorry for what he did to you, and I'm sorry that he got away with it."

"Why are you on my side? You're his brother…"

"We're estranged. There was an incident that caused us to part on bad terms, but before that…I noticed a change in him. His high school girlfriend had said that he tried to rape her. She told me this years later, last year really. They had broken up and neither of them told us why, and now, I know. I'm so sorry, Emily. I hate that he did that to you…"

"Why do you care?" she said knowing she was still guarded. She wasn't going to let her guard down for one second with Brandon's brother…no matter how much he was on her side.

"Because I feel like I'm responsible. Before I went off to university, I caught my step mother in bed with him. They said it happened a couple of times, but I didn't believe them. What I didn't know, until my step mother told me a few months ago, was that she had blackmailed him into the twisted relationship or she would expose some of our father's business secret. Something big, but anyway…I think that fucked with his head and…"

"So, you're saying that's it some sort of excuse for what he did to me?"

"No, not at all. That's no excuse to rape you. You were innocent. So was Janine, his girlfriend. He's fucked up and he should pay. I just wish I could've done something to stop it."

"Well, that's all nice and all, but I just want to get through this without your sympathy."

"I know…if you want, I could have you talk to Janine…I just want you to have some peace. Maybe I could have some peace if I know I helped you. You don't have to like me…but just know I want to help. I'm sorry my brother is a monster…"

"I should go…" Emily said as she walked past him, but she stopped and cursed under her breath before turning around. "You're a good person, but your brother raped me…you can't have a quick fix for this…no matter how good your intentions are."

"I know…and I'm sorry for thinking that I could. I hope you fully recover from this." Hunter said before walking away and Emily walked back to where her mother and friends were.

"Emily…They need you to make a statement." her mother said wish a worried look.

"Yeah…I can do it." Emily said with false confidence. She didn't want to think about what was about to happen again, but she knew she had to. For her sake…


	20. Chapter 20

The next few weeks would've been hell for Emily if she had went through them alone. Brandon was in prison, but the media storm that followed her everywhere she went was overwhelming. Even the support of other students was too much. They were being extra nice to her and treating her as if she was a fragile doll. All she wanted was a normal day in which she wasn't reminded about her rape or how much Brandon harassed her.

One day she was sitting in her room, doing homework when her mother knocked at the door. She had been checking in on her more often ever since she found out the rape. Emily didn't mind it much, but sometimes it was getting a little annoying.

"Mom, I'm okay…" she said but stopped when she saw her mother standing there with Derek standing beside her. She smiled when her mother left but opened the door to her room wider.

"It seems like you're smiling more these days. I glad you didn't let that son of a bitch break you." Derek said with a smile that made her heart skip.

"He did break me, but you picked up the pieces and put me together again. I guess that's over, now, huh?" she said in a sad tone. She wished their charade didn't have to end, but it was no use in putting on a show for anyone. Not even themselves. "I mean, there's not point, right? Brandon is in prison, everyone in school knows about my rape, we told Casey that we weren't really dating, and you still see me as just a friend. I guess this is part where we say goodbye."

"Why would you say that?" he said as he joined her on her bed. "Emily…" Derek said as he took a few deep breaths. He didn't know why he was so damn nervous. He was just going to tell Emily how he felt and how much he wanted her to be his girlfriend. He was just going to tell her that he had wanted to be with her for a while and that he regret ever saying that he liked her as only a friend. Oh yeah, that's was why he was so damn nervous.

"Derek, you don't have to keep doing this. Being nice to me. I'm getting over my rape and I have you to thank for that. True, I'm not fully there, yet, but you gave me the courage to trust again. You made me laugh and smile and…" she said but was cut off my Derek kissing her.

"I'm sorry…" he said as he immediately pulled away from her when she whimpered. "I'm sorry…I just wanted to show you how much I like you, and…"

"I'm not upset that you kissed me. I'm just shocked. Is there something you want to tell me?" Emily asked as she stared into Derek's wonderful brown eyes.

"Emily…I like you a lot. You know how hard this is for me…talking about feelings and stuff, so bear with me. For a while…I've been feeling like…I don't know…like my head is floating or something. You're like…like a really good hockey game. I never want to change the channel or look at another sport and…fuck it! I like you, okay? As more than a friend…I like you."

"Derek…you do?" Emily said in shock as she let out a light laugh. Those were the words she wanted to hear all her life of having a crush on Derek. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that she's not ready to get that close to Derek or any guy after what happened to her. "We can't…" she said and Derek looked confused and hurt at her rejection.

"Why can't we? Emily, I know what you went through with Brandon, but I'm not him. Come on, Em, you've been waiting all your life for me to say those words."

"And I'm happy, that you did. I'm almost flying now that I know how you feel, but…I'm not ready to be in a relationship with a guy yet. There are still some things I need to work on and I'm working on them, but I have to do it on my own. And I don't want to hurt you by not trusting you. When I date you, I want to be able to fully trust you. Do you understand?"

"No, but I know if this is something you have to do, then do it. I won't guarantee that I'll wait for you. I am the Derek Venturi after all." he said with that cocky grin that drove her crazy, but he quickly stopped and gave her a small smile.

"I'm not expecting you to wait. That would be selfish of me, and I'm not selfish. So, when I'm ready, if we're both single…do you want to give us dating a try?"

"Hell yeah, I would give us a try. I mean, yeah…I would really like to give us try. I hope you get better, and I hope you can find some sort of…I don't know…"

"Peace. Usually, that's what people say in this type of situation…" Emily said with a smile as she stared at Derek. Oh, how she loved his face. Those innocent features he try to change when he thinks someone might view them as weak.

"Yeah…peace. Speaking of that, I should go. I have hockey practice tonight. And by the way, this is goodbye for good. I'm still going to be your friend. I have to do something to piss Casey off, and…I really like hanging out with you."

"Thanks. I really like hanging out with you, too."

"More than Casey?" he asked with an amused smirk and she gave him a look. "Okay, okay. I won't ask that. Though, I know that would so piss her off to know you like me better. That would be sweet." he said and she just rolled her eyes and laughed.

"One day, she's going to get you back for all the bad shit you've done to her. And when she does, I'm will be right there laughing." she said with a cocky grin. A trait she picked up from hanging out with Derek way too much.

"I'm sure…" he said with a laugh. "Well, I really should go. I'll see you tomorrow, for sure" he said as he stood up and so did Emily. "Can I hug you?"

"You want to hug me? You? Are you sick or something? You never hug…"

"Well, I'm hugging now. I think you infected me with sensitivity…" he said with a shudder and that made her laugh. "Now hug me before I change my mind…" he said and she laughed before she did. She wrapped her arms around his waist and loved that he felt so warm. Damn, she wanted to change her mind about not dating him now, but she knew it was probably best that she didn't.

"We should probably let each other go, right now…" Emily said with a light laugh as they separated. "Have fun at practice…" Emily said as she walked with Derek downstairs and to the front door. She lingered there watching his leave, but he turned around and walked back.

"I just wanted to…well…" he said before placing the sweetest kiss on her lips. When he pulled away, he stared at her with caution, but quickly smiled when she smiled. "Sorry…I just really, really wanted to do that for a long time."

"Don't be sorry…" she said as she touched her lips and stared at him.

"If you changed you mind about dating me, now…" he said with a smirk.

"It's better that we don't…" she trailed off thinking about how much time she needed to, fully, get over what happened to her. "When, I'm ready…that'll be the time. Until then, you'll be the coolest guy friend I know. You're the only guy friend. See ya." she said as she watched him leave and this time he didn't turn back around.

Walking back upstairs, she went into her room and sat on her bed. Most likely, she will never talk to Brandon ex-girlfriend as his brother suggested. She has her own pain to deal with and Emily was pretty sure she had gotten over hers.

Emily thought about how stupid she was to keep her rape a secret. She didn't have to go through that month alone cutting off her best friend and the people she loved. She saw that telling Derek was the best thing that could've happened to her. Even if it didn't stay just between them.


End file.
